--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,15 @@
+2006-02-14  Simon Josefsson  <jas@extundo.com>
+
+	* modules/maintainer-makefile: New module.
+
+	* build-aux/Makefile.maint: New file, from GNU CoreUtils, although
+	severaly stripped to make it possible to build it up from scratch
+	with reliable tests.
+
+	* build-aux/GNUmakefile: New file, from GNU CoreUtils with some
+	fixes to permit overriding the default actions when configure and
+	makefile are not available.
+
 2006-02-13  Simon Josefsson  <jas@extundo.com>
 
 	* gnulib-tool (Usage): Fix --import, from

new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build-aux/GNUmakefile
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+# Having a separate GNUmakefile lets me `include' the dynamically
+# generated rules created via Makefile.maint as well as Makefile.maint itself.
+# This makefile is used only if you run GNU Make.
+# It is necessary if you want to build targets usually of interest
+# only to the maintainer.
+
+# Copyright (C) 2001, 2003, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+#
+# This program 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 2 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program 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 this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+# 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+
+# Systems where /bin/sh is not the default shell need this.  The $(shell)
+# command below won't work with e.g. stock DOS/Windows shells.
+ifeq ($(wildcard /bin/s[h]),/bin/sh)
+SHELL = /bin/sh
+else
+# will be used only with the next shell-test line, then overwritten
+# by a configured-in value
+SHELL = sh
+endif
+
+# Make tar archive easier to reproduce.
+export TAR_OPTIONS = --owner=0 --group=0 --numeric-owner
+
+# Ran autoreconf and configure or not?
+have-Makefile := $(shell test -f Makefile && echo yes)
+ifeq ($(have-Makefile),yes)
+
+include Makefile
+-include $(srcdir)/Makefile.cfg
+include $(srcdir)/Makefile.maint
+
+else
+
+.DEFAULT_GOAL := abort-due-to-no-makefile
+
+-include ./Makefile.cfg
+include ./Makefile.maint
+
+abort-due-to-no-makefile:
+	@echo There seems to be no Makefile in this directory.   1>&2
+	@echo "You must run ./configure before running \`make'." 1>&2
+	@exit 1
+
+endif
+
+# Tell version 3.79 and up of GNU make to not build goals in this
+# directory in parallel.  This is necessary in case someone tries to
+# build multiple targets on one command line.
+.NOTPARALLEL:

new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build-aux/Makefile.maint
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+# -*-Makefile-*-
+# This Makefile fragment is intended to be useful by any GNU-like project.
+# This file originate from coreutils, CPPI, Bison, and Autoconf.
+
+## Copyright (C) 2001-2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+##
+## This program 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 2, or (at your option)
+## any later version.
+##
+## This program 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 this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+## Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
+## 02110-1301, USA.
+
+# List of all C-like source code files that will be tested for
+# stylistic "errors".  You may want to define this to something 
+# more complex in Makefile.cfg.
+C_SOURCES ?= $(shell find . -name '*.[chly]')
+
+# Add some more files to check, typically set in Makefile.cfg.
+C_SOURCES += $(C_SOURCES_ADD)
+
+# Do not save the original name or timestamp in the .tar.gz file.
+# Use --rsyncable if available.
+gzip_rsyncable := \
+  $(shell gzip --help|grep rsyncable >/dev/null && echo --rsyncable)
+GZIP_ENV = '--no-name --best $(gzip_rsyncable)'
+
+# Prevent programs like 'sort' from considering distinct strings to be equal.
+# Doing it here saves us from having to set LC_ALL elsewhere in this file.
+export LC_ALL = C
+
+# Casting arguments to free is never necessary.
+sc_cast_of_argument_to_free:
+	@grep -nE '\<free *\( *\(' $(C_SOURCES) &&		\
+	  { echo '$(ME): don'\''t cast free argument' 1>&2;		\
+	    exit 1; } || :

new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/maintainer-makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+Description:
+Helper GNUmakefile with syntax checks, build improvements, etc.
+
+Files:
+build-aux/GNUmakefile
+build-aux/Makefile.maint
+
+License:
+GPLed build tool
+
+Maintainer:
+all