new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/liboctave/oct-mutex.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+/*
+
+Copyright (C) 2008 Michael Goffioul
+
+This file is part of Octave.
+
+Octave is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
+Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your
+option) any later version.
+
+Octave is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+for more details.
+
+You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+along with Octave; see the file COPYING.  If not, see
+<http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+*/
+
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+#include <config.h>
+#endif
+
+#include "oct-mutex.h"
+#include "error.h"
+
+#if defined (HAVE_PTHREAD_H)
+#include <pthread.h>
+#endif
+
+#if defined (__WIN32__) && ! defined (__CYGWIN__)
+#include <windows.h>
+#endif
+
+class
+octave_default_mutex : public octave_mutex
+{
+public:
+    octave_default_mutex (void)
+	: octave_mutex (-1) { }
+
+    void lock (void)
+      { error ("mutex not supported on this platform"); }
+
+    void unlock(void)
+      { error ("mutex not supported on this platform"); }
+};
+
+#if defined (__WIN32__) && ! defined (__CYGWIN__)
+
+class
+octave_w32_mutex : public octave_mutex
+{
+public:
+    octave_w32_mutex (void)
+	: octave_mutex (-1)
+      {
+	InitializeCriticalSection (&cs);
+      }
+
+    ~octave_w32_mutex (void)
+      {
+	DeleteCriticalSection (&cs);
+      }
+
+    void lock (void)
+      {
+	EnterCriticalSection (&cs);
+      }
+
+    void unlock (void)
+      {
+	LeaveCriticalSection (&cs);
+      }
+
+private:
+    CRITICAL_SECTION cs;
+};
+
+#elif defined (HAVE_PTHREAD_H)
+
+class
+octave_pthread_mutex : public octave_mutex
+{
+public:
+    octave_pthread_mutex (void)
+	: octave_mutex (-1)
+      {
+	pthread_mutexattr_t attr;
+
+	pthread_mutexattr_init (&attr);
+	pthread_mutexattr_settype (&attr, PTHREAD_MUTEX_RECURSIVE);
+	pthread_mutex_init (&pm, &attr);
+	pthread_mutexattr_destroy (&attr);
+      }
+
+    ~octave_pthread_mutex (void)
+      {
+	pthread_mutex_destroy (&pm);
+      }
+
+    void lock (void)
+      {
+	pthread_mutex_lock (&pm);
+      }
+
+    void unlock (void)
+      {
+	pthread_mutex_unlock (&pm);
+      }
+
+private:
+    pthread_mutex_t pm;
+};
+
+#endif
+
+octave_mutex::octave_mutex (void)
+{
+#if defined (__WIN32__) && ! defined (__CYGWIN__)
+  rep = new octave_w32_mutex ();
+#elif defined (HAVE_PTHREAD_H)
+  rep = new octave_pthread_mutex ();
+#else
+  rep = new octave_default_mutex ();
+#endif
+  rep->count++;
+}