diff --git a/Make.inc b/Make.inc
index 4b4a4cf4b365a..eee1e27f79b56 100644
--- a/Make.inc
+++ b/Make.inc
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 
 ## Note:
 ##   It is generally preferable to change these options, for
-##   your local machine, in a file named `Make.user` in this directory
+##   your local machine, in a file named `Make.user` in the toplevel
+##   and build directories
 
 # OPENBLAS build options
 OPENBLAS_TARGET_ARCH=
@@ -71,10 +72,26 @@ WITH_GC_DEBUG_ENV = 0
 # Prevent picking up $ARCH from the environment variables
 ARCH=
 
+# pick up BUILDROOT from O= if it isn't already set (from recursive make)
+ifeq ($(BUILDROOT),)
+ifeq ("$(origin O)", "command line")
+  BUILDROOT := $(abspath $O)
+  BUILDDIR := $(abspath $(BUILDROOT)/$(shell $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/relative_path.sh $(JULIAHOME) $(SRCDIR)))
+  $(info $(shell printf '\033[32;1mBuilding into $(BUILDROOT)\033[0m')) # use printf to expand the escape sequences
+else
+  BUILDROOT:=$(JULIAHOME)
+endif
+endif
+export BUILDROOT
+
 # we include twice to pickup user definitions better
+# include from JULIAHOME first so that BUILDROOT can override
 ifeq (exists, $(shell [ -e $(JULIAHOME)/Make.user ] && echo exists ))
 include $(JULIAHOME)/Make.user
 endif
+ifeq (exists, $(shell [ -e $(BUILDROOT)/Make.user ] && echo exists ))
+include $(BUILDROOT)/Make.user
+endif
 
 # disable automatic Makefile rules
 .SUFFIXES:
@@ -110,7 +127,7 @@ includedir = $(prefix)/include
 sysconfdir = $(prefix)/etc
 
 # Directories where things get built into
-build_prefix = $(JULIAHOME)/usr
+build_prefix = $(BUILDROOT)/usr
 build_staging = $(build_prefix)-staging
 build_bindir = $(build_prefix)/bin
 build_libdir = $(build_prefix)/lib
@@ -399,6 +416,9 @@ endif
 ifeq (exists, $(shell [ -e $(JULIAHOME)/Make.user ] && echo exists ))
 include $(JULIAHOME)/Make.user
 endif
+ifeq (exists, $(shell [ -e $(BUILDROOT)/Make.user ] && echo exists ))
+include $(BUILDROOT)/Make.user
+endif
 
 ifeq ($(SANITIZE),1)
 ifeq ($(SANITIZE_MEMORY),1)
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 1904d62cc009e..1121a62647e9e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-JULIAHOME := $(abspath .)
+JULIAHOME := $(abspath $(dir $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))
 include $(JULIAHOME)/Make.inc
 
 # TODO: Code bundled with Julia should be installed into a versioned directory,
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ include $(JULIAHOME)/Make.inc
 # prefix/share/julia/site/VERSDIR (not prefix/share/julia/VERSDIR/site ...
 # so that prefix/share/julia/VERSDIR can be overwritten without touching
 # third-party code).
-VERSDIR = v`cut -d. -f1-2 < VERSION`
+VERSDIR = v`cut -d. -f1-2 < $(JULIAHOME)/VERSION`
 
 #file name of make binary-dist result
 ifeq ($(JULIA_BINARYDIST_TARNAME),)
@@ -19,57 +19,66 @@ default: $(JULIA_BUILD_MODE) # contains either "debug" or "release"
 all: debug release
 
 # sort is used to remove potential duplicates
-DIRS = $(sort $(build_bindir) $(build_libdir) $(build_private_libdir) $(build_libexecdir) $(build_sysconfdir)/julia $(build_datarootdir)/julia $(build_man1dir))
+DIRS := $(sort $(build_bindir) $(build_libdir) $(build_private_libdir) $(build_libexecdir) $(build_sysconfdir)/julia $(build_datarootdir)/julia $(build_man1dir))
+ifneq ($(BUILDROOT),$(JULIAHOME))
+BUILDDIRS := $(addprefix $(BUILDROOT)/,. base src ui doc deps test test/perf)
+BUILDDIRMAKE := $(addsuffix /Makefile,$(BUILDDIRS))
+DIRS := $(DIRS) $(BUILDDIRS)
+$(BUILDDIRMAKE): | $(BUILDDIRS)
+	@# add Makefiles to the build directories for convenience (pointing back to the source location of each)
+	@echo '# -- This file is automatically generated in julia/Makefile -- #' > $@
+	@echo 'BUILDROOT=$(BUILDROOT)' >> $@
+	@echo 'include $(JULIAHOME)/$(patsubst $(BUILDROOT)/%,%,$(@:/Makefile=))/Makefile' >> $@
+julia-deps: | $(BUILDDIRMAKE)
+endif
 
 $(foreach dir,$(DIRS),$(eval $(call dir_target,$(dir))))
 $(foreach link,base test,$(eval $(call symlink_target,$(link),$(build_datarootdir)/julia)))
 
 # Build the HTML docs (skipped if already exists, notably in tarballs)
-doc/_build/html:
-	@$(MAKE) -C doc html
+$(BUILDROOT)/doc/_build/html:
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/doc html
 
 # doc needs to live under $(build_docdir), not under $(build_datarootdir)/julia/
 CLEAN_TARGETS += clean-docdir
 clean-docdir:
 	@-rm -fr $(abspath $(build_docdir))
-$(build_prefix)/.examples: $(wildcard $(JULIAHOME)/examples/*.jl) $(shell find $(JULIAHOME)/examples/clustermanager)
-	@echo Copying in usr/share/doc/julia/examples
-	@-rm -fr $(build_docdir)/examples
-	@mkdir -p $(build_docdir)/examples
-	@cp -R $(JULIAHOME)/examples/*.jl $(build_docdir)/examples/
-	@cp -R $(JULIAHOME)/examples/clustermanager $(build_docdir)/examples/
-	@echo 1 > $@
+$(subst $(abspath $(BUILDROOT))/,,$(abspath $(build_docdir))): $(build_docdir)
+$(build_docdir):
+	@mkdir -p $@/examples
+	@cp -R examples/*.jl $@/examples/
+	@cp -R examples/clustermanager $@/examples/
 
 julia-symlink: julia-ui-$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
 ifneq ($(OS),WINNT)
 ifndef JULIA_VAGRANT_BUILD
-	@ln -sf "$(shell contrib/relative_path.sh "$(JULIAHOME)" "$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)")" julia
+	@ln -sf "$(shell $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/relative_path.sh "$(BUILDROOT)" "$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)")" $(BUILDROOT)/julia
 endif
 endif
 
-julia-deps: | $(DIRS) $(build_datarootdir)/julia/base $(build_datarootdir)/julia/test
-	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C deps
+julia-deps: | $(DIRS) $(build_datarootdir)/julia/base $(build_datarootdir)/julia/test $(build_docdir) $(build_sysconfdir)/julia/juliarc.jl $(build_man1dir)/julia.1
+	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/deps
 
-julia-base: julia-deps $(build_sysconfdir)/julia/juliarc.jl $(build_man1dir)/julia.1
-	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C base
+julia-base: julia-deps
+	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/base
 
 julia-libccalltest:
-	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C test libccalltest
+	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/test libccalltest
 
 julia-src-release julia-src-debug : julia-src-% : julia-deps
-	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C src libjulia-$*
+	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/src libjulia-$*
 
 julia-ui-release julia-ui-debug : julia-ui-% : julia-src-%
-	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C ui julia-$*
+	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/ui julia-$*
 
-julia-inference : julia-base julia-ui-$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE) $(build_prefix)/.examples
-	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) $(build_private_libdir)/inference.ji JULIA_BUILD_MODE=$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
+julia-inference : julia-base julia-ui-$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
+	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT) $(build_private_libdir)/inference.ji JULIA_BUILD_MODE=$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
 
 julia-sysimg-release : julia-inference julia-ui-release
-	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) $(build_private_libdir)/sys.$(SHLIB_EXT) JULIA_BUILD_MODE=release
+	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT) $(build_private_libdir)/sys.$(SHLIB_EXT) JULIA_BUILD_MODE=release
 
 julia-sysimg-debug : julia-inference julia-ui-debug
-	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) $(build_private_libdir)/sys-debug.$(SHLIB_EXT) JULIA_BUILD_MODE=debug
+	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT) $(build_private_libdir)/sys-debug.$(SHLIB_EXT) JULIA_BUILD_MODE=debug
 
 julia-debug julia-release : julia-% : julia-ui-% julia-sysimg-% julia-symlink julia-libccalltest
 
@@ -77,28 +86,28 @@ debug release : % : julia-%
 
 check-whitespace:
 ifneq ($(NO_GIT), 1)
-	@contrib/check-whitespace.sh
+	@$(JULIAHOME)/contrib/check-whitespace.sh
 else
 	$(warn "Skipping whitespace check because git is unavailable")
 endif
 
 release-candidate: release testall
-	@$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE) contrib/add_license_to_files.jl #add license headers
-	@$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE) doc/genstdlib.jl
+	@$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE) $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/add_license_to_files.jl #add license headers
+	@$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE) $(JULIAHOME)/doc/genstdlib.jl
 	@#Check documentation
-	@$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE) doc/NEWS-update.jl #Add missing cross-references to NEWS.md
-	@$(MAKE) -C doc unicode #Rebuild Unicode table if necessary
-	@$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE) doc/DocCheck.jl > doc/UNDOCUMENTED.rst 2>&1 #Check for undocumented items
-	@if [ -z "$(cat doc/UNDOCUMENTED.rst)" ]; then \
-		rm doc/UNDOCUMENTED.rst; \
+	@$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE) $(JULIAHOME)/doc/NEWS-update.jl #Add missing cross-references to NEWS.md
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/doc unicode #Rebuild Unicode table if necessary
+	@$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE) $(JULIAHOME)/doc/DocCheck.jl > $(BUILDROOT)/doc/UNDOCUMENTED.rst 2>&1 #Check for undocumented items
+	@if [ -z "$(cat $(BUILDROOT)/doc/UNDOCUMENTED.rst)" ]; then \
+		rm $(BUILDROOT)/doc/UNDOCUMENTED.rst; \
 	else \
 		echo "Undocumented functions found in doc/UNDOCUMENTED.rst; document them, then retry"; \
 		exit 1; \
 	fi
-	@$(MAKE) -C doc html  SPHINXOPTS="-n" #Rebuild Julia HTML docs pedantically
-	@$(MAKE) -C doc latex SPHINXOPTS="-n" #Rebuild Julia PDF docs pedantically
-	@$(MAKE) -C doc doctest #Run Julia doctests
-	@$(MAKE) -C doc linkcheck #Check all links
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/doc html  SPHINXOPTS="-n" #Rebuild Julia HTML docs pedantically
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/doc latex SPHINXOPTS="-n" #Rebuild Julia PDF docs pedantically
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/doc doctest #Run Julia doctests
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/doc linkcheck #Check all links
 
 	@# Check to see if the above make invocations changed anything important
 	@if [ -n "$$(git status --porcelain)" ]; then \
@@ -107,7 +116,7 @@ release-candidate: release testall
 	fi
 
 	@#Check that benchmarks work
-	@$(MAKE) -C test/perf
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/test/perf
 	@#Check that netload tests work
 	@#for test in test/netload/*.jl; do julia $$test; if [ $$? -ne 0 ]; then exit 1; fi; done
 	@echo
@@ -127,16 +136,14 @@ release-candidate: release testall
 	@echo
 
 $(build_man1dir)/julia.1: $(JULIAHOME)/doc/man/julia.1 | $(build_man1dir)
-	@echo Copying in usr/share/man/man1/julia.1
 	@mkdir -p $(build_man1dir)
 	@cp $< $@
 
 $(build_sysconfdir)/julia/juliarc.jl: $(JULIAHOME)/etc/juliarc.jl | $(build_sysconfdir)/julia
-	@echo Creating usr/etc/julia/juliarc.jl
 	@cp $< $@
 ifeq ($(OS), WINNT)
-	@cat ./contrib/windows/juliarc.jl >> $(build_sysconfdir)/julia/juliarc.jl
-$(build_sysconfdir)/julia/juliarc.jl: contrib/windows/juliarc.jl
+	@cat $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/windows/juliarc.jl >> $(build_sysconfdir)/julia/juliarc.jl
+$(build_sysconfdir)/julia/juliarc.jl: $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/windows/juliarc.jl
 endif
 
 $(build_private_libdir)/%.$(SHLIB_EXT): $(build_private_libdir)/%.o
@@ -146,7 +153,8 @@ $(build_private_libdir)/%.$(SHLIB_EXT): $(build_private_libdir)/%.o
 	@$(INSTALL_NAME_CMD)$(notdir $@) $@
 	@$(DSYMUTIL) $@
 
-CORE_SRCS := base/boot.jl base/coreimg.jl \
+CORE_SRCS := $(addprefix $(JULIAHOME)/, \
+		base/boot.jl base/coreimg.jl \
 		base/abstractarray.jl \
 		base/array.jl \
 		base/bool.jl \
@@ -169,33 +177,34 @@ CORE_SRCS := base/boot.jl base/coreimg.jl \
 		base/range.jl \
 		base/reduce.jl \
 		base/reflection.jl \
-		base/tuple.jl
-BASE_SRCS := $(shell find base -name \*.jl)
+		base/tuple.jl)
+BASE_SRCS := $(shell find $(JULIAHOME)/base -name \*.jl)
 
 $(build_private_libdir)/inference0.ji: $(CORE_SRCS) | $(build_private_libdir)
-	@$(call PRINT_JULIA, cd base && \
+	@$(call PRINT_JULIA, cd $(JULIAHOME)/base && \
 	$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) -C $(JULIA_CPU_TARGET) --output-ji $(call cygpath_w,$@) -f \
 		coreimg.jl)
 
 $(build_private_libdir)/inference.ji: $(build_private_libdir)/inference0.ji
-	@$(call PRINT_JULIA, cd base && \
+	@$(call PRINT_JULIA, cd $(JULIAHOME)/base && \
 	$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) -C $(JULIA_CPU_TARGET) --output-ji $(call cygpath_w,$@) -f \
 		-J $(call cygpath_w,$<) coreimg.jl)
 
+RELBUILDROOT := $(shell $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/relative_path.sh "$(JULIAHOME)/base" "$(BUILDROOT)/base/")
 COMMA:=,
 define sysimg_builder
-$$(build_private_libdir)/sys$1.o: $$(build_private_libdir)/inference.ji VERSION $$(BASE_SRCS)
-	@$$(call PRINT_JULIA, cd base && \
+$$(build_private_libdir)/sys$1.o: $$(build_private_libdir)/inference.ji $(JULIAHOME)/VERSION $$(BASE_SRCS)
+	@$$(call PRINT_JULIA, cd $(JULIAHOME)/base && \
 	$$(call spawn,$2) -C $$(JULIA_CPU_TARGET) --output-o $$(call cygpath_w,$$@) $$(JULIA_SYSIMG_BUILD_FLAGS) -f \
-		-J $$(call cygpath_w,$$<) sysimg.jl \
+		-J $$(call cygpath_w,$$<) sysimg.jl $(RELBUILDROOT) \
 		|| { echo '*** This error is usually fixed by running `make clean`. If the error persists$$(COMMA) try `make cleanall`. ***' && false; } )
 .SECONDARY: $(build_private_libdir)/sys$1.o
 endef
 $(eval $(call sysimg_builder,,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE_release)))
 $(eval $(call sysimg_builder,-debug,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE_debug)))
 
-$(build_bindir)/stringreplace: contrib/stringreplace.c | $(build_bindir)
-	@$(call PRINT_CC, $(HOSTCC) -o $(build_bindir)/stringreplace contrib/stringreplace.c)
+$(build_bindir)/stringreplace: $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/stringreplace.c | $(build_bindir)
+	@$(call PRINT_CC, $(HOSTCC) -o $(build_bindir)/stringreplace $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/stringreplace.c)
 
 
 # public libraries, that are installed in $(prefix)/lib
@@ -278,7 +287,7 @@ define stringreplace
 	$(build_bindir)/stringreplace $$(strings -t x - $1 | grep '$2' | awk '{print $$1;}') '$3' 255 "$(call cygpath_w,$1)"
 endef
 
-install: $(build_bindir)/stringreplace doc/_build/html
+install: $(build_bindir)/stringreplace $(BUILDROOT)/doc/_build/html
 	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) all
 	@for subdir in $(bindir) $(libexecdir) $(datarootdir)/julia/site/$(VERSDIR) $(docdir) $(man1dir) $(includedir)/julia $(libdir) $(private_libdir) $(sysconfdir); do \
 		mkdir -p $(DESTDIR)$$subdir; \
@@ -325,22 +334,22 @@ ifeq ($(OS),WINNT)
 endif
 	$(INSTALL_F) $(build_includedir)/uv* $(DESTDIR)$(includedir)/julia
 endif
-	$(INSTALL_F) src/julia.h src/julia_version.h src/support/*.h $(DESTDIR)$(includedir)/julia
+	$(INSTALL_F) $(addprefix $(JULIAHOME)/,src/julia.h src/julia_version.h src/support/*.h) $(DESTDIR)$(includedir)/julia
 	# Copy system image
 	-$(INSTALL_F) $(build_private_libdir)/sys.ji $(DESTDIR)$(private_libdir)
 	$(INSTALL_M) $(build_private_libdir)/sys.$(SHLIB_EXT) $(DESTDIR)$(private_libdir)
 	$(INSTALL_M) $(build_private_libdir)/sys-debug.$(SHLIB_EXT) $(DESTDIR)$(private_libdir)
 	# Copy in system image build script
-	$(INSTALL_M) contrib/build_sysimg.jl $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/julia/
+	$(INSTALL_M) $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/build_sysimg.jl $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/julia/
 	# Copy in standalone executable build script
-	$(INSTALL_M) contrib/build_executable.jl $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/julia/
+	$(INSTALL_M) $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/build_executable.jl $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/julia/
 	# Copy in standalone julia-config script
-	$(INSTALL_M) contrib/julia-config.jl $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/julia/
+	$(INSTALL_M) $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/julia-config.jl $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/julia/
 	# Copy in all .jl sources as well
 	cp -R -L $(build_datarootdir)/julia $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/
 	# Copy documentation
 	cp -R -L $(build_docdir)/* $(DESTDIR)$(docdir)/
-	cp -R -L doc/_build/html $(DESTDIR)$(docdir)/
+	cp -R -L $(BUILDROOT)/doc/_build/html $(DESTDIR)$(docdir)/
 	-rm $(DESTDIR)$(docdir)/html/.buildinfo
 	# Remove perf suite
 	-rm -rf $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/julia/test/perf/
@@ -351,14 +360,14 @@ endif
 	$(INSTALL_F) $(build_man1dir)/julia.1 $(DESTDIR)$(man1dir)/
 	# Copy icon and .desktop file
 	mkdir -p $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/
-	$(INSTALL_F) contrib/julia.svg $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/
+	$(INSTALL_F) $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/julia.svg $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/
 	-touch -c $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/icons/hicolor/
 	-gtk-update-icon-cache $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/icons/hicolor/
 	mkdir -p $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/applications/
-	$(INSTALL_F) contrib/julia.desktop $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/applications/
+	$(INSTALL_F) $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/julia.desktop $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/applications/
 	# Install appdata file
 	mkdir -p $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/appdata/
-	$(INSTALL_F) contrib/julia.appdata.xml $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/appdata/
+	$(INSTALL_F) $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/julia.appdata.xml $(DESTDIR)$(datarootdir)/appdata/
 
 	# Update RPATH entries and JL_SYSTEM_IMAGE_PATH if $(private_libdir_rel) != $(build_private_libdir_rel)
 ifneq ($(private_libdir_rel),$(build_private_libdir_rel))
@@ -382,7 +391,7 @@ endif
 	cp -R $(build_sysconfdir)/julia $(DESTDIR)$(sysconfdir)/
 
 distclean dist-clean:
-	rm -fr julia-*.tar.gz julia*.exe julia-*.7z julia-$(JULIA_COMMIT)
+	rm -fr $(BUILDROOT)/julia-*.tar.gz $(BUILDROOT)/julia*.exe $(BUILDROOT)/julia-*.7z $(BUILDROOT)/julia-$(JULIA_COMMIT)
 
 dist:
 	@echo \'dist\' target is deprecated: use \'binary-dist\' instead.
@@ -402,23 +411,23 @@ endif
 ifneq ($(DESTDIR),)
 	$(error DESTDIR must not be set for make binary-dist)
 endif
-	@$(MAKE) install
-	cp LICENSE.md $(prefix)
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT) -f $(JULIAHOME)/Makefile install
+	cp $(JULIAHOME)/LICENSE.md $(prefix)
 ifneq ($(OS), WINNT)
-	-./contrib/fixup-libgfortran.sh $(DESTDIR)$(private_libdir)
+	-$(JULIAHOME)/contrib/fixup-libgfortran.sh $(DESTDIR)$(private_libdir)
 endif
 ifeq ($(OS), Linux)
-	-./contrib/fixup-libstdc++.sh $(DESTDIR)$(private_libdir)
+	-$(JULIAHOME)/contrib/fixup-libstdc++.sh $(DESTDIR)$(private_libdir)
 endif
 	# Copy in juliarc.jl files per-platform for binary distributions as well
 	# Note that we don't install to sysconfdir: we always install to $(DESTDIR)$(prefix)/etc.
 	# If you want to make a distribution with a hardcoded path, you take care of installation
 ifeq ($(OS), Darwin)
-	-cat ./contrib/mac/juliarc.jl >> $(DESTDIR)$(prefix)/etc/julia/juliarc.jl
+	-cat $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/mac/juliarc.jl >> $(DESTDIR)$(prefix)/etc/julia/juliarc.jl
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(OS), WINNT)
-	[ ! -d dist-extras ] || ( cd dist-extras && \
+	[ ! -d $(JULIAHOME)/dist-extras ] || ( cd $(JULIAHOME)/dist-extras && \
 		cp 7z.exe 7z.dll libexpat-1.dll zlib1.dll libgfortran-3.dll libquadmath-0.dll libstdc++-6.dll libgcc_s_s*-1.dll libssp-0.dll $(bindir) && \
 	    mkdir $(DESTDIR)$(prefix)/Git && \
 	    7z x PortableGit.7z -o"$(DESTDIR)$(prefix)/Git" && \
@@ -432,20 +441,21 @@ ifeq ($(OS), WINNT)
 	cd $(prefix) && find * | sed -e 's/\//\\/g' -e 's/$$/\r/g' > etc/uninstall.log
 
 	# build nsis package
-	$(call spawn,./dist-extras/nsis/makensis.exe) -NOCD -DVersion=$(JULIA_VERSION) -DArch=$(ARCH) -DCommit=$(JULIA_COMMIT) ./contrib/windows/build-installer.nsi
+	$(call spawn,$(JULIAHOME)/dist-extras/nsis/makensis.exe) -NOCD -DVersion=$(JULIA_VERSION) -DArch=$(ARCH) -DCommit=$(JULIA_COMMIT) $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/windows/build-installer.nsi
 
 	# compress nsis installer and combine with 7zip self-extracting header
-	./dist-extras/7z a -mx9 "julia-install-$(JULIA_COMMIT)-$(ARCH).7z" julia-installer.exe
-	cat ./contrib/windows/7zS.sfx ./contrib/windows/7zSFX-config.txt "julia-install-$(JULIA_COMMIT)-$(ARCH).7z" > "julia-${JULIA_VERSION}-${ARCH}.exe"
-	-rm -f julia-installer.exe
+	cd $(BUILDROOT) && $(JULIAHOME)/dist-extras/7z a -mx9 "julia-install-$(JULIA_COMMIT)-$(ARCH).7z" julia-installer.exe
+	cd $(BUILDROOT) && cat $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/windows/7zS.sfx $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/windows/7zSFX-config.txt "julia-install-$(JULIA_COMMIT)-$(ARCH).7z" > "julia-${JULIA_VERSION}-${ARCH}.exe"
+	-rm -f $(BUILDROOT)/julia-installer.exe
 else
-	$(TAR) zcvf $(JULIA_BINARYDIST_TARNAME).tar.gz julia-$(JULIA_COMMIT)
+	cd $(BUILDROOT) && $(TAR) zcvf $(JULIA_BINARYDIST_TARNAME).tar.gz julia-$(JULIA_COMMIT)
 endif
 	rm -fr $(prefix)
 
-light-source-dist.tmp: doc/_build/html
+# this target does not accept BUILDROOT
+light-source-dist.tmp: $(JULIAHOME)/doc/_build/html
 	# Save git information
-	-@$(MAKE) -C base version_git.jl.phony
+	-@$(MAKE) -C $(JULIAHOME)/base version_git.jl.phony
 
 	# Create file light-source-dist.tmp to hold all the filenames that go into the tarball
 	echo "base/version_git.jl" > light-source-dist.tmp
@@ -453,6 +463,7 @@ light-source-dist.tmp: doc/_build/html
 	find doc/_build/html >> light-source-dist.tmp
 
 # Make tarball with only Julia code
+# this target does not accept BUILDROOT
 light-source-dist: light-source-dist.tmp
 	# Prefix everything with the current directory name (usually "julia"), then create tarball
 	DIRNAME=$$(basename $$(pwd)); \
@@ -463,13 +474,14 @@ source-dist:
 	@echo \'source-dist\' target is deprecated: use \'full-source-dist\' instead.
 
 # Make tarball with Julia code plus all dependencies
+# this target does not accept BUILDROOT
 full-source-dist: light-source-dist.tmp
 	# Get all the dependencies downloaded
 	@$(MAKE) -C deps getall NO_GIT=1
 
 	# Create file full-source-dist.tmp to hold all the filenames that go into the tarball
 	cp light-source-dist.tmp full-source-dist.tmp
-	-ls deps/*.tar.gz deps/*.tar.bz2 deps/*.tar.xz deps/*.tgz deps/*.zip >> full-source-dist.tmp
+	-ls deps/srccache/*.tar.gz deps/srccache/*.tar.bz2 deps/srccache/*.tar.xz deps/srccache/*.tgz deps/srccache/*.zip >> full-source-dist.tmp
 
 	# Prefix everything with the current directory name (usually "julia"), then create tarball
 	DIRNAME=$$(basename $$(pwd)); \
@@ -477,30 +489,31 @@ full-source-dist: light-source-dist.tmp
 	cd ../ && tar -cz -T $$DIRNAME/full-source-dist.tmp1 --no-recursion -f $$DIRNAME/julia-$(JULIA_VERSION)_$(JULIA_COMMIT)-full.tar.gz
 
 clean: | $(CLEAN_TARGETS)
-	@$(MAKE) -C base clean
-	@$(MAKE) -C doc clean
-	@$(MAKE) -C src clean
-	@$(MAKE) -C ui clean
-	@$(MAKE) -C test clean
-	@rm -f julia
-	@rm -f *~ *# *.tar.gz
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/base clean
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/doc clean
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/src clean
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/ui clean
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/test clean
+	@rm -f $(BUILDROOT)/julia
+	@rm -f $(BUILDROOT)/*.tar.gz
 	@rm -f $(build_bindir)/stringreplace \
-		light-source-dist.tmp light-source-dist.tmp1 \
-		full-source-dist.tmp full-source-dist.tmp1
+		$(BUILDROOT)/light-source-dist.tmp $(BUILDROOT)/light-source-dist.tmp1 \
+		$(BUILDROOT)/full-source-dist.tmp $(BUILDROOT)/full-source-dist.tmp1
 	@rm -fr $(build_private_libdir)
-	@rm -f $(build_prefix)/.examples
+# Temporarily add this line to the Makefile to remove extras
+	@rm -fr $(build_datarootdir)/julia/extras
 
 cleanall: clean
-	@$(MAKE) -C src clean-flisp clean-support
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/src clean-flisp clean-support
 	@rm -fr $(build_shlibdir)
 ifeq ($(OS),WINNT)
 	@rm -rf $(build_prefix)/lib
 endif
-	@$(MAKE) -C deps clean-libuv
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/deps clean-libuv
 
 distcleanall: cleanall
-	@$(MAKE) -C deps distcleanall
-	@$(MAKE) -C doc cleanall
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/deps distcleanall
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/doc cleanall
 	rm -fr $(build_prefix) $(build_staging)
 
 .PHONY: default debug release check-whitespace release-candidate \
@@ -513,53 +526,53 @@ distcleanall: cleanall
 	dist full-source-dist source-dist
 
 test: check-whitespace $(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
-	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C test default JULIA_BUILD_MODE=$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
+	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/test default JULIA_BUILD_MODE=$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
 
 testall: check-whitespace $(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
-	cp $(build_prefix)/lib/julia/sys$(JULIA_LIBSUFFIX).$(SHLIB_EXT) local.$(SHLIB_EXT) && $(JULIA_EXECUTABLE) -J local.$(SHLIB_EXT) -e 'true' && rm local.$(SHLIB_EXT)
-	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C test all JULIA_BUILD_MODE=$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
+	cp $(build_prefix)/lib/julia/sys$(JULIA_LIBSUFFIX).$(SHLIB_EXT) $(BUILDROOT)/local.$(SHLIB_EXT) && $(JULIA_EXECUTABLE) -J $(BUILDROOT)/local.$(SHLIB_EXT) -e 'true' && rm $(BUILDROOT)/local.$(SHLIB_EXT)
+	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/test all JULIA_BUILD_MODE=$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
 
 testall1: check-whitespace $(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
-	@env JULIA_CPU_CORES=1 $(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C test all JULIA_BUILD_MODE=$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
+	@env JULIA_CPU_CORES=1 $(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/test all JULIA_BUILD_MODE=$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
 
 test-%: check-whitespace $(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
-	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C test $* JULIA_BUILD_MODE=$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
+	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/test $* JULIA_BUILD_MODE=$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
 
 perf: release
-	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C test/perf JULIA_BUILD_MODE=$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
+	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/test/perf JULIA_BUILD_MODE=$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
 
 perf-%: release
-	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C test/perf $* JULIA_BUILD_MODE=$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
+	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT)/test/perf $* JULIA_BUILD_MODE=$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
 
 # download target for some hardcoded windows dependencies
 .PHONY: win-extras wine_path
 win-extras:
-	[ -d dist-extras ] || mkdir dist-extras
+	[ -d $(JULIAHOME)/dist-extras ] || mkdir $(JULIAHOME)/dist-extras
 ifneq ($(BUILD_OS),WINNT)
 ifeq (,$(findstring CYGWIN,$(BUILD_OS)))
-	cp /usr/lib/p7zip/7z /usr/lib/p7zip/7z.so dist-extras
+	cp /usr/lib/p7zip/7z /usr/lib/p7zip/7z.so $(JULIAHOME)/dist-extras
 endif
 endif
 ifneq (,$(filter $(ARCH), i386 i486 i586 i686))
-	cd dist-extras && \
+	cd $(JULIAHOME)/dist-extras && \
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) http://downloads.sourceforge.net/sevenzip/7z920.exe && \
 	7z x -y 7z920.exe 7z.exe 7z.dll && \
 	../contrib/windows/winrpm.sh http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/windows:/mingw:/win32/openSUSE_13.1 \
-	"mingw32-libgfortran3 mingw32-libquadmath0 mingw32-libstdc++6 mingw32-libgcc_s_sjlj1 mingw32-libssp0 mingw32-libexpat1 mingw32-zlib1" && \
+		"mingw32-libgfortran3 mingw32-libquadmath0 mingw32-libstdc++6 mingw32-libgcc_s_sjlj1 mingw32-libssp0 mingw32-libexpat1 mingw32-zlib1" && \
 	cp usr/i686-w64-mingw32/sys-root/mingw/bin/*.dll .
 else ifeq ($(ARCH),x86_64)
-	cd dist-extras && \
+	cd $(JULIAHOME)/dist-extras && \
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) 7z920-x64.msi http://downloads.sourceforge.net/sevenzip/7z920-x64.msi && \
 	7z x -y 7z920-x64.msi _7z.exe _7z.dll && \
 	mv _7z.dll 7z.dll && \
 	mv _7z.exe 7z.exe && \
 	../contrib/windows/winrpm.sh http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/windows:/mingw:/win64/openSUSE_13.1 \
-	"mingw64-libgfortran3 mingw64-libquadmath0 mingw64-libstdc++6 mingw64-libgcc_s_seh1 mingw64-libssp0 mingw64-libexpat1 mingw64-zlib1" && \
+		"mingw64-libgfortran3 mingw64-libquadmath0 mingw64-libstdc++6 mingw64-libgcc_s_seh1 mingw64-libssp0 mingw64-libexpat1 mingw64-zlib1" && \
 	cp usr/x86_64-w64-mingw32/sys-root/mingw/bin/*.dll .
 else
 	$(error no win-extras target for ARCH=$(ARCH))
 endif
-	cd dist-extras && \
+	cd $(JULIAHOME)/dist-extras && \
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) http://downloads.sourceforge.net/sevenzip/7z920_extra.7z && \
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) https://unsis.googlecode.com/files/nsis-2.46.5-Unicode-setup.exe && \
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) busybox.exe http://frippery.org/files/busybox/busybox-w32-FRP-1-g9eb16cb.exe && \
diff --git a/base/Makefile b/base/Makefile
index 57846b05ef23a..1c673d7db2004 100644
--- a/base/Makefile
+++ b/base/Makefile
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 SRCDIR := $(abspath $(dir $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))
+BUILDDIR := .
 JULIAHOME := $(abspath $(SRCDIR)/..)
-BUILDDIR ?= .
 include $(JULIAHOME)/deps/Versions.make
 include $(JULIAHOME)/Make.inc
 
diff --git a/base/client.jl b/base/client.jl
index 664c7b65323da..edc452845069c 100644
--- a/base/client.jl
+++ b/base/client.jl
@@ -406,6 +406,8 @@ function _atreplinit(repl)
 end
 
 function _start()
+    empty!(ARGS)
+    append!(ARGS, Core.ARGS)
     opts = JLOptions()
     try
         (quiet,repl,startup,color_set,history_file) = process_options(opts,copy(ARGS))
diff --git a/base/fs.jl b/base/fs.jl
index db991a47a9206..b2cac54d5ad8c 100644
--- a/base/fs.jl
+++ b/base/fs.jl
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ export File,
 import Base: uvtype, uvhandle, eventloop, fd, position, stat, close, write, read, read!, readbytes, isopen,
             _sizeof_uv_fs, uv_error
 
-include("file_constants.jl")
+include(string(length(Core.ARGS)>=2?Core.ARGS[2]:"","file_constants.jl"))  # include($BUILDROOT/base/file_constants.jl)
 
 abstract AbstractFile <: IO
 
diff --git a/base/libc.jl b/base/libc.jl
index 26e1dc161d90c..fe0a2fe3b0467 100644
--- a/base/libc.jl
+++ b/base/libc.jl
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ export FILE, TmStruct, strftime, strptime, getpid, gethostname, free, malloc, ca
     errno, strerror, flush_cstdio, systemsleep, time
 @windows_only export GetLastError, FormatMessage
 
-include("errno.jl")
+include(string(length(Core.ARGS)>=2?Core.ARGS[2]:"","errno_h.jl"))  # include($BUILDROOT/base/errno_h.jl)
 
 ## RawFD ##
 
diff --git a/base/pcre.jl b/base/pcre.jl
index ec7a865aca94c..aa24f8690145f 100644
--- a/base/pcre.jl
+++ b/base/pcre.jl
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 module PCRE
 
-include("pcre_h.jl")
+include(string(length(Core.ARGS)>=2?Core.ARGS[2]:"","pcre_h.jl"))  # include($BUILDROOT/base/pcre_h.jl)
 
 const PCRE_LIB = "libpcre2-8"
 
diff --git a/base/rounding.jl b/base/rounding.jl
index 96490407452c2..f82821ae3632f 100644
--- a/base/rounding.jl
+++ b/base/rounding.jl
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # This file is a part of Julia. License is MIT: http://julialang.org/license
 
 module Rounding
-include("fenv_constants.jl")
+include(UTF8String(vcat(length(Core.ARGS)>=2?Core.ARGS[2].data:"".data, "fenv_constants.jl".data))) # include($BUILDROOT/base/fenv_constants.jl)
 
 export
     RoundingMode, RoundNearest, RoundToZero, RoundUp, RoundDown, RoundFromZero,
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ function from_fenv(r::Integer)
     end
 end
 
-set_rounding_raw{T<:Union{Float32,Float64}}(::Type{T},i::Integer) = ccall(:fesetround, Cint, (Cint,), i)
-get_rounding_raw{T<:Union{Float32,Float64}}(::Type{T}) = ccall(:fegetround, Cint, ())
+set_rounding_raw{T<:Union{Float32,Float64}}(::Type{T},i::Integer) = ccall(:fesetround, Int32, (Int32,), i)
+get_rounding_raw{T<:Union{Float32,Float64}}(::Type{T}) = ccall(:fegetround, Int32, ())
 
 set_rounding{T<:Union{Float32,Float64}}(::Type{T},r::RoundingMode) = set_rounding_raw(T,to_fenv(r))
 get_rounding{T<:Union{Float32,Float64}}(::Type{T}) = from_fenv(get_rounding_raw(T))
diff --git a/base/stream.jl b/base/stream.jl
index b254a1f5e8e76..c6b84c2539015 100644
--- a/base/stream.jl
+++ b/base/stream.jl
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 # This file is a part of Julia. License is MIT: http://julialang.org/license
 
-#TODO: Move stdio detection from C to Julia (might require some Clang magic)
-include("uv_constants.jl")
+include(string(length(Core.ARGS)>=2?Core.ARGS[2]:"","uv_constants.jl"))  # include($BUILDROOT/base/uv_constants.jl)
 
 import .Libc: RawFD, dup
 @windows_only import .Libc: WindowsRawSocket
diff --git a/base/sysimg.jl b/base/sysimg.jl
index 8e6d20f1a3341..f352779f71bbb 100644
--- a/base/sysimg.jl
+++ b/base/sysimg.jl
@@ -31,9 +31,6 @@ include("essentials.jl")
 include("docs/bootstrap.jl")
 include("base.jl")
 include("reflection.jl")
-include("build_h.jl")
-include("version_git.jl")
-include("c.jl")
 include("options.jl")
 
 # core operations & types
@@ -81,7 +78,10 @@ include("dict.jl")
 include("set.jl")
 include("iterator.jl")
 
-# For OS specific stuff in I/O
+# For OS specific stuff
+include(UTF8String(vcat(length(Core.ARGS)>=2?Core.ARGS[2].data:"".data, "build_h.jl".data))) # include($BUILDROOT/base/build_h.jl)
+include(UTF8String(vcat(length(Core.ARGS)>=2?Core.ARGS[2].data:"".data, "version_git.jl".data))) # include($BUILDROOT/base/version_git.jl)
+include("c.jl")
 include("osutils.jl")
 
 # strings & printing
diff --git a/contrib/windows/msys_build.sh b/contrib/windows/msys_build.sh
index bb4b88c84cc2a..27caae65a75a7 100755
--- a/contrib/windows/msys_build.sh
+++ b/contrib/windows/msys_build.sh
@@ -110,6 +110,7 @@ done
 for i in share/julia/base/pcre_h.jl; do
   $SEVENZIP e -y julia-installer.exe "\$_OUTDIR/$i" -obase >> get-deps.log
 done
+echo "override PCRE_INCL_PATH =" >> Make.user
 # suppress "bash.exe: warning: could not find /tmp, please create!"
 mkdir -p usr/Git/tmp
 # Remove libjulia.dll if it was copied from downloaded binary
diff --git a/deps/Makefile b/deps/Makefile
index ddfaf79259708..1cf751a5ceb95 100644
--- a/deps/Makefile
+++ b/deps/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ## high-level setup ##
 SRCDIR := $(abspath $(dir $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))
 JULIAHOME := $(abspath $(SRCDIR)/..)
-BUILDDIR ?= .
+BUILDDIR := .
 include $(SRCDIR)/Versions.make
 include $(JULIAHOME)/Make.inc
 
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ endif
 
 # If the top-level Makefile is called with environment variables,
 # they will override the values passed above to ./configure
-MAKE_COMMON = DESTDIR="" prefix=$(build_prefix) bindir=$(build_bindir) libdir=$(build_libdir) libexecdir=$(build_libexecdir) datarootdir=$(build_datarootdir) includedir=$(build_includedir) sysconfdir=$(build_sysconfdir)
+MAKE_COMMON = DESTDIR="" prefix=$(build_prefix) bindir=$(build_bindir) libdir=$(build_libdir) libexecdir=$(build_libexecdir) datarootdir=$(build_datarootdir) includedir=$(build_includedir) sysconfdir=$(build_sysconfdir) O=
 
 
 ## Overall configuration of which rules exist and should be run by default ##
@@ -248,6 +248,7 @@ endef
 #
 # this defines rules for:
 #   VARNAME_SRC_DIR = source directory for the output, relative to $(SRCDIR)/srccache or $(BUILDDIR)
+#   VARNAME_SRC_FILE = target file for make get-VARNAME target
 #   dirname:
 #   dirname/file_from_download:
 #   distclean-dirname:
@@ -257,9 +258,10 @@ include $(SRCDIR)/$1.version
 
 ifneq ($(NO_GIT),1)
 $2_SRC_DIR = $1
-$$(SRCDIR)/srccache/$1.git: | $$(SRCDIR)/srccache
+$2_SRC_FILE = $$(SRCDIR)/srccache/$1.git
+$$($2_SRC_FILE): | $$(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	git clone -q --mirror --depth=10 --branch $$($2_BRANCH) $$($2_GIT_URL) $$@
-$5/$1: | $$(SRCDIR)/srccache/$1.git
+$5/$1: | $$($2_SRC_FILE)
 	# try to update the cache, if that fails, attempt to continue anyways (the ref might already be local)
 	-cd $$(SRCDIR)/srccache/$1.git && git fetch -q $$($2_GIT_URL) $$($2_BRANCH):remotes/origin/$$($2_BRANCH)
 	git clone -q --branch $$($2_BRANCH) $$(SRCDIR)/srccache/$1.git $$@
@@ -287,22 +289,24 @@ $5/$1/$4: $$(JULIAHOME)/.git/modules/deps/$1/HEAD
 endif
 else #unconditionally add dependency on expected location
 $5/$1/$4: $5/$1/.git/HEAD
+$5/$1/.git/HEAD: | $5/$1
 endif
 
 else # NO_GIT
 
 $2_SRC_DIR = $1-$$($2_SHA1)
-$$(SRCDIR)/$$($2_SRC_DIR).tar.gz:
+$2_SRC_FILE = $$(SRCDIR)/srccache/$$($2_SRC_DIR).tar.gz
+$$($2_SRC_FILE): | $$(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$$(JLDOWNLOAD) $$@ $$(call $2_TAR_URL,$$($2_SHA1))
-$5/$$($2_SRC_DIR)/$3: $$(SRCDIR)/$$($2_SRC_DIR).tar.gz
-	$$(JLCHECKSUM) $<
+$5/$$($2_SRC_DIR)/$3: $$($2_SRC_FILE)
+	$$(JLCHECKSUM) $$<
 	mkdir -p $$(dir $$@) && \
 	$(TAR) -C $$(dir $$@) --strip-components 1 -xf $$<
 	touch -c $$@
-endif
+endif # NO_GIT
 
 distclean-$1:
-	-rm -rf $5/$$($2_SRC_DIR) $$(SRCDIR)/srccache/$$($2_SRC_DIR).tar.gz
+	-rm -rf $5/$$($2_SRC_DIR) $$($2_SRC_FILE)
 endef
 
 
@@ -495,25 +499,25 @@ LLVM_MFLAGS += OPTIONAL_DIRS=
 endif
 
 ifneq ($(LLVM_CLANG_TAR),)
-$(LLVM_CLANG_TAR):
+$(LLVM_CLANG_TAR): | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ http://llvm.org/releases/$(LLVM_VER)/$(notdir $@)
 endif
 ifneq ($(LLVM_COMPILER_RT_TAR),)
-$(LLVM_COMPILER_RT_TAR):
+$(LLVM_COMPILER_RT_TAR): | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ http://llvm.org/releases/$(LLVM_VER)/$(notdir $@)
 endif
 
 ifneq ($(LLVM_LIBCXX_TAR),)
-$(LLVM_LIBCXX_TAR):
+$(LLVM_LIBCXX_TAR): | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ http://llvm.org/releases/$(LLVM_VER)/$(notdir $@)
 endif
 ifneq ($(LLVM_VER),svn)
-$(LLVM_TAR):
+$(LLVM_TAR): | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ http://llvm.org/releases/$(LLVM_VER)/$(notdir $@)
 endif
 
 ifneq ($(LLVM_LLDB_TAR),)
-$(LLVM_LLDB_TAR):
+$(LLVM_LLDB_TAR): | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ http://llvm.org/releases/$(LLVM_VER)/$(notdir $@)
 endif
 ifeq ($(BUILD_LLDB),1)
@@ -656,7 +660,7 @@ endif # LLVM_VER
 # Apply version-specific LLVM patches
 LLVM_PATCH_LIST=
 define LLVM_PATCH
-$$(LLVM_SRC_DIR)/$1.patch-applied: $$(SRCDIR)/$1.patch
+$$(LLVM_SRC_DIR)/$1.patch-applied: | $$(SRCDIR)/$1.patch
 	cd $$(LLVM_SRC_DIR) && patch -p1 < $$<
 	echo 1 > $$@
 LLVM_PATCH_LIST += $$(LLVM_SRC_DIR)/$1.patch-applied
@@ -789,6 +793,7 @@ $(BUILDDIR)/$(LIBUV_SRC_DIR)/config.status: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/$(LIBUV_SRC_DIR)/
 	touch -c $(SRCDIR)/srccache/$(LIBUV_SRC_DIR)/aclocal.m4 # touch a few files to prevent autogen from getting called
 	touch -c $(SRCDIR)/srccache/$(LIBUV_SRC_DIR)/Makefile.in
 	touch -c $(SRCDIR)/srccache/$(LIBUV_SRC_DIR)/configure
+	mkdir -p $(dir $@)
 	cd $(dir $@) && \
 	$< --with-pic $(CONFIGURE_COMMON) $(UV_FLAGS)
 	touch -c $@
@@ -808,7 +813,7 @@ clean-libuv:
 	-$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDDIR)/$(LIBUV_SRC_DIR) clean
 	-rm -rf $(build_libdir)/libuv.a $(build_libdir)/libuv.la $(build_includedir)/libuv.h $(build_includedir)/libuv-private
 
-get-libuv: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/$(LIBUV_SRC_DIR)/configure
+get-libuv: $(LIBUV_SRC_FILE)
 configure-libuv: $(BUILDDIR)/$(LIBUV_SRC_DIR)/config.status
 compile-libuv: $(UV_SRC_TARGET)
 check-libuv: $(BUILDDIR)/$(LIBUV_SRC_DIR)/checked
@@ -890,7 +895,7 @@ clean-openlibm:
 	-rm $(OPENLIBM_OBJ_TARGET)
 	-rm $(build_libdir)/libopenlibm.a
 
-get-openlibm: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/$(OPENLIBM_SRC_DIR).git
+get-openlibm: $(OPENLIBM_SRC_FILE)
 configure-openlibm: $(BUILDDIR)/$(OPENLIBM_SRC_DIR)/Makefile
 compile-openlibm: $(OPENLIBM_OBJ_SOURCE)
 check-openlibm: compile-openlibm
@@ -930,7 +935,7 @@ clean-openspecfun:
 	-rm $(OPENSPECFUN_OBJ_TARGET)
 	-rm $(build_libdir)/libopenspecfun.a
 
-get-openspecfun: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/$(OPENSPECFUN_SRC_DIR).git
+get-openspecfun: $(OPENSPECFUN_SRC_FILE)
 configure-openspecfun: $(BUILDDIR)/$(OPENSPECFUN_SRC_DIR)/Makefile
 compile-openspecfun: $(OPENSPECFUN_OBJ_SOURCE)
 check-openspecfun: compile-openspecfun
@@ -953,7 +958,7 @@ ifeq ($(ARCH), x86_64)
 DSFMT_CFLAGS += -msse2 -DHAVE_SSE2
 endif
 
-$(SRCDIR)/srccache/dsfmt-$(DSFMT_VER).tar.gz:
+$(SRCDIR)/srccache/dsfmt-$(DSFMT_VER).tar.gz: | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ http://www.math.sci.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/~m-mat/MT/SFMT/dSFMT-src-$(DSFMT_VER).tar.gz
 	touch -c $@
 $(BUILDDIR)/dsfmt-$(DSFMT_VER)/config.status: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/dsfmt-$(DSFMT_VER).tar.gz
@@ -997,9 +1002,9 @@ RMATH_JULIA_FLAGS += CC="$(CC)" USECLANG=$(USECLANG) USEGCC=$(USEGCC) \
 			   USE_DSFMT=1 DSFMT_libdir="$(build_shlibdir)" \
 			   DSFMT_includedir="$(build_includedir)"
 
-$(SRCDIR)/srccache/Rmath-julia-$(RMATH_JULIA_VER).tar.gz:
+$(SRCDIR)/srccache/Rmath-julia-$(RMATH_JULIA_VER).tar.gz: | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ https://api.github.com/repos/JuliaLang/Rmath-julia/tarball/v$(RMATH_JULIA_VER)
-$(BUILDDIR)/Rmath-julia-$(RMATH_JULIA_VER)/Makefile: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/Rmath-julia-$(RMATH_JULIA_VER).tar.gz
+$(BUILDDIR)/Rmath-julia-$(RMATH_JULIA_VER)/Makefile: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/Rmath-julia-$(RMATH_JULIA_VER).tar.gz | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLCHECKSUM) $<
 	mkdir -p $(BUILDDIR)/Rmath-julia-$(RMATH_JULIA_VER)
 	$(TAR) -C $(BUILDDIR)/Rmath-julia-$(RMATH_JULIA_VER) --strip-components 1 -xf $<
@@ -1028,7 +1033,7 @@ install-Rmath-julia: $(RMATH_JULIA_OBJ_TARGET)
 OBJCONV_SOURCE = $(BUILDDIR)/objconv/objconv
 OBJCONV_TARGET = $(build_bindir)/objconv
 
-$(SRCDIR)/srccache/objconv.zip:
+$(SRCDIR)/srccache/objconv.zip: | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ http://www.agner.org/optimize/objconv.zip
 $(BUILDDIR)/objconv/config.status: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/objconv.zip
 	-rm -r $(dir $@)
@@ -1143,7 +1148,7 @@ endif
 clean-openblas:
 	-$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDDIR)/$(OPENBLAS_SRC_DIR) clean
 
-get-openblas: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/$(OPENBLAS_SRC_DIR).git
+get-openblas: $(OPENBLAS_SRC_FILE)
 configure-openblas: $(BUILDDIR)/$(OPENBLAS_SRC_DIR)/config.status
 compile-openblas: $(OPENBLAS_OBJ_SOURCE)
 check-openblas: compile-openblas
@@ -1246,7 +1251,7 @@ ifneq ($(OS),WINNT)
 LAPACK_MFLAGS += BLASLIB="-Wl,-rpath,'$(build_libdir)' $(LIBBLAS)"
 endif
 
-$(SRCDIR)/srccache/lapack-$(LAPACK_VER).tgz:
+$(SRCDIR)/srccache/lapack-$(LAPACK_VER).tgz: | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ http://www.netlib.org/lapack/$(notdir $@)
 $(BUILDDIR)/lapack-$(LAPACK_VER)/make.inc: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/lapack-$(LAPACK_VER).tgz
 	$(JLCHECKSUM) $<
@@ -1325,10 +1330,10 @@ ARPACK_FLAGS += LDFLAGS="$(LDFLAGS) -Wl,-rpath,'$(build_libdir)'"
 endif
 
 # ARPACK-NG upstream keeps changing their download filenames
-$(SRCDIR)/srccache/arpack-ng-$(ARPACK_VER).tar.gz:
+$(SRCDIR)/srccache/arpack-ng-$(ARPACK_VER).tar.gz: | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ https://github.com/opencollab/arpack-ng/archive/$(ARPACK_VER).tar.gz
 	touch -c $@
-$(SRCDIR)/srccache/arpack-ng-$(ARPACK_VER)-testA.mtx:
+$(SRCDIR)/srccache/arpack-ng-$(ARPACK_VER)-testA.mtx: | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/opencollab/arpack-ng/$(ARPACK_VER)/TESTS/testA.mtx
 	touch -c $@
 $(SRCDIR)/srccache/arpack-ng-$(ARPACK_VER)/configure: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/arpack-ng-$(ARPACK_VER).tar.gz
@@ -1354,8 +1359,9 @@ $(BUILDDIR)/arpack-ng-$(ARPACK_VER)/config.status: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/arpack-ng-
 $(ARPACK_OBJ_SOURCE): $(BUILDDIR)/arpack-ng-$(ARPACK_VER)/config.status
 	$(MAKE) -C $(dir $<) $(ARPACK_MFLAGS)
 	touch -c $@
-$(BUILDDIR)/arpack-ng-$(ARPACK_VER)/checked: $(ARPACK_OBJ_SOURCE) $(SRCDIR)/srccache/arpack-ng-$(ARPACK_VER)-testA.mtx
-	cp $(SRCDIR)/srccache/arpack-ng-$(ARPACK_VER)-testA.mtx $(BUILDDIR)/arpack-ng-$(ARPACK_VER)/TESTS
+$(BUILDDIR)/arpack-ng-$(ARPACK_VER)/checked: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/arpack-ng-$(ARPACK_VER)-testA.mtx $(ARPACK_OBJ_SOURCE)
+	$(JLCHECKSUM) $<
+	cp $< $(dir $@)/TESTS/testA.mtx
 	$(MAKE) -C $(dir $@) check $(ARPACK_MFLAGS)
 	echo 1 > $@
 $(ARPACK_OBJ_TARGET): $(ARPACK_OBJ_SOURCE) $(BUILDDIR)/arpack-ng-$(ARPACK_VER)/checked | $(build_shlibdir)
@@ -1416,7 +1422,7 @@ FFTW_ENABLE_single = --enable-single
 FFTW_ENABLE_double =
 FFTW_CONFIG += $(FFTW_ENABLE_$*)
 
-$(SRCDIR)/srccache/fftw-$(FFTW_VER).tar.gz:
+$(SRCDIR)/srccache/fftw-$(FFTW_VER).tar.gz: | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ http://www.fftw.org/$(notdir $@)
 $(SRCDIR)/srccache/fftw-$(FFTW_VER)/configure: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/fftw-$(FFTW_VER).tar.gz
 	$(JLCHECKSUM) $<
@@ -1425,7 +1431,7 @@ $(SRCDIR)/srccache/fftw-$(FFTW_VER)/configure: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/fftw-$(FFTW_VE
 	touch -c $@
 $(BUILDDIR)/fftw-$(FFTW_VER)-%/config.status: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/fftw-$(FFTW_VER)/configure
 	mkdir -p $(dir $@)
-	# try to configure with avx support. if that fails, try again without it
+	@# try to configure with avx support. if that fails, try again without it
 	cd $(dir $@) && \
 	($< $(CONFIGURE_COMMON) $(FFTW_CONFIG) --enable-avx || \
 	  $< $(CONFIGURE_COMMON) $(FFTW_CONFIG))
@@ -1498,8 +1504,8 @@ configure-fftw: configure-fftw-single configure-fftw-double
 compile-fftw: compile-fftw-single compile-fftw-double
 check-fftw: check-fftw-single check-fftw-double
 install-fftw: check-fftw-single check-fftw-double # do these serially, to prevent write conflicts
-	@$(MAKE) -s install-fftw-single
-	@$(MAKE) -s install-fftw-double
+	@$(MAKE) -s -f $(JULIAHOME)/deps/Makefile install-fftw-single
+	@$(MAKE) -s -f $(JULIAHOME)/deps/Makefile install-fftw-double
 
 get-fftw-single: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/fftw-$(FFTW_VER).tar.gz
 configure-fftw-single: $(BUILDDIR)/fftw-$(FFTW_VER)-single/config.status
@@ -1523,16 +1529,18 @@ UTF8PROC_OBJ_LIB    = $(build_libdir)/libutf8proc.a
 UTF8PROC_OBJ_HEADER = $(build_includedir)/utf8proc.h
 UTF8PROC_OBJ_TARGET = $(UTF8PROC_OBJ_LIB) $(UTF8PROC_OBJ_HEADER)
 UTF8PROC_CFLAGS     = -O2
+UTF8PROC_MFLAGS     = CC="$(CC) $(DEPS_CFLAGS)" CFLAGS="$(CFLAGS) $(UTF8PROC_CFLAGS)" PICFLAG="$(fPIC)" AR="$(AR)"
 
 $(UTF8PROC_SRC_TARGET): $(BUILDDIR)/$(UTF8PROC_SRC_DIR)/Makefile
-	$(MAKE) -C $(dir $<) CC="$(CC) $(DEPS_CFLAGS)" CFLAGS="$(CFLAGS) $(UTF8PROC_CFLAGS)" PICFLAG="$(fPIC)" AR="$(AR)" libutf8proc.a
+	$(MAKE) -C $(dir $<) $(UTF8PROC_MFLAGS) libutf8proc.a
 	touch -c $@
+# make check doesn't actually compile (missing prototype / implementation for getline)
 $(BUILDDIR)/$(UTF8PROC_SRC_DIR)/checked: $(UTF8PROC_SRC_TARGET)
 ifeq ($(OS),$(BUILD_OS))
-	$(MAKE) -C $(dir $@) check
+	$(MAKE) -C $(dir $@) $(UTF8PROC_MFLAGS) check
 endif
 	echo 1 > $@
-$(UTF8PROC_OBJ_LIB): $(UTF8PROC_SRC_TARGET) $(BUILDDIR)/$(UTF8PROC_SRC_DIR)/checked
+$(UTF8PROC_OBJ_LIB): $(UTF8PROC_SRC_TARGET)
 	cp -f $< $@
 $(UTF8PROC_OBJ_HEADER): $(UTF8PROC_SRC_TARGET)
 	cp -f $(BUILDDIR)/$(UTF8PROC_SRC_DIR)/utf8proc.h $@
@@ -1541,7 +1549,7 @@ clean-utf8proc:
 	-$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDDIR)/$(UTF8PROC_SRC_DIR) clean
 	-rm -rf $(build_libdir)/libutf8proc.a $(build_includedir)/utf8proc.h
 
-get-utf8proc: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/$(UTF8PROC_SRC_DIR).git
+get-utf8proc: $(UTF8PROC_SRC_FILE)
 configure-utf8proc: $(BUILDDIR)/$(UTF8PROC_SRC_DIR)/Makefile
 compile-utf8proc: $(UTF8PROC_SRC_TARGET)
 check-utf8proc: $(BUILDDIR)/$(UTF8PROC_SRC_DIR)/checked
@@ -1579,7 +1587,7 @@ SUITESPARSE_MFLAGS = CC="$(CC)" CXX="$(CXX)" F77="$(FC)" AR="$(AR)" RANLIB="$(RA
 	  INSTALL_LIB="$(build_libdir)" INSTALL_INCLUDE="$(build_includedir)" LIB="$(SUITE_SPARSE_LIB)" \
 	  UMFPACK_CONFIG="$(UMFPACK_CONFIG)" CHOLMOD_CONFIG="$(CHOLMOD_CONFIG)" SPQR_CONFIG="$(SPQR_CONFIG)"
 
-$(SRCDIR)/srccache/SuiteSparse-$(SUITESPARSE_VER).tar.gz:
+$(SRCDIR)/srccache/SuiteSparse-$(SUITESPARSE_VER).tar.gz: | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ http://faculty.cse.tamu.edu/davis/SuiteSparse/$(notdir $@)
 $(BUILDDIR)/SuiteSparse-$(SUITESPARSE_VER)/Makefile: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/SuiteSparse-$(SUITESPARSE_VER).tar.gz
 	$(JLCHECKSUM) $<
@@ -1670,7 +1678,7 @@ LIBUNWIND_TARGET_SOURCE = $(BUILDDIR)/libunwind-$(UNWIND_VER)/src/.libs/libunwin
 LIBUNWIND_CFLAGS = -U_FORTIFY_SOURCE $(fPIC)
 LIBUNWIND_CPPFLAGS =
 
-$(SRCDIR)/srccache/libunwind-$(UNWIND_VER).tar.gz:
+$(SRCDIR)/srccache/libunwind-$(UNWIND_VER).tar.gz: | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/libunwind/$(notdir $@)
 $(SRCDIR)/srccache/libunwind-$(UNWIND_VER)/configure: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/libunwind-$(UNWIND_VER).tar.gz
 	$(JLCHECKSUM) $<
@@ -1694,7 +1702,7 @@ endif
 $(LIBUNWIND_TARGET_OBJ): $(LIBUNWIND_TARGET_SOURCE)
 	$(call make-install,libunwind-$(UNWIND_VER),)
 ifeq ($(ARCH), ppc64)
-	# workaround for configure script bug
+	@# workaround for configure script bug
 	mv $(build_prefix)/lib64/libunwind*.a $(build_libdir)
 endif
 	touch $@
@@ -1718,7 +1726,7 @@ OSXUNWIND_FLAGS = ARCH="$(ARCH)" CC="$(CC)" FC="$(FC)" AR="$(AR)" OS="$(OS)" USE
 OSXUNWIND_OBJ_TARGET = $(build_shlibdir)/libosxunwind.$(SHLIB_EXT)
 OSXUNWIND_OBJ_SOURCE = $(BUILDDIR)/libosxunwind-$(OSXUNWIND_VER)/libosxunwind.$(SHLIB_EXT)
 
-$(SRCDIR)/srccache/libosxunwind-$(OSXUNWIND_VER).tar.gz:
+$(SRCDIR)/srccache/libosxunwind-$(OSXUNWIND_VER).tar.gz: | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ https://github.com/JuliaLang/libosxunwind/archive/v$(OSXUNWIND_VER).tar.gz
 
 $(BUILDDIR)/libosxunwind-$(OSXUNWIND_VER)/Makefile: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/libosxunwind-$(OSXUNWIND_VER).tar.gz
@@ -1756,14 +1764,16 @@ ifeq ($(SANITIZE),1)
 GMP_CONFIGURE_OPTS += --disable-assembly
 endif
 
-$(SRCDIR)/srccache/gmp-$(GMP_VER).tar.bz2:
+$(SRCDIR)/srccache/gmp-$(GMP_VER).tar.bz2: | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ https://gmplib.org/download/gmp/$(notdir $@)
 $(SRCDIR)/srccache/gmp-$(GMP_VER)/configure: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/gmp-$(GMP_VER).tar.bz2
 	$(JLCHECKSUM) $<
 	cd $(dir $<) && $(TAR) jxf $<
-	cd $(dir $@) && patch -p1 < $(SRCDIR)/gmp_6.0.0_osx.patch
 	touch -c $@
-$(BUILDDIR)/gmp-$(GMP_VER)/config.status: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/gmp-$(GMP_VER)/configure
+$(SRCDIR)/srccache/gmp-$(GMP_VER)/patched: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/gmp-$(GMP_VER)/configure
+	cd $(dir $@) && patch -p1 < $(SRCDIR)/gmp_6.0.0_osx.patch
+	echo 1 > $@
+$(BUILDDIR)/gmp-$(GMP_VER)/config.status: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/gmp-$(GMP_VER)/configure $(SRCDIR)/srccache/gmp-$(GMP_VER)/patched
 	mkdir -p $(dir $@)
 	cd $(dir $@) && \
 	$< $(CONFIGURE_COMMON) F77= --enable-shared --disable-static $(GMP_CONFIGURE_OPTS)
@@ -1822,7 +1832,7 @@ ifeq ($(SANITIZE),1)
 MPFR_OPTS += --host=none-unknown-linux
 endif
 
-$(SRCDIR)/srccache/mpfr-$(MPFR_VER).tar.bz2:
+$(SRCDIR)/srccache/mpfr-$(MPFR_VER).tar.bz2: | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ http://www.mpfr.org/mpfr-$(MPFR_VER)/$(notdir $@)
 $(SRCDIR)/srccache/mpfr-$(MPFR_VER)/configure: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/mpfr-$(MPFR_VER).tar.bz2
 	$(JLCHECKSUM) $<
@@ -1862,7 +1872,7 @@ install-mpfr: $(MPFR_OBJ_TARGET)
 PATCHELF_SOURCE = $(BUILDDIR)/patchelf-$(PATCHELF_VER)/src/patchelf
 PATCHELF_TARGET = $(build_bindir)/patchelf
 
-$(SRCDIR)/srccache/patchelf-$(PATCHELF_VER).tar.gz:
+$(SRCDIR)/srccache/patchelf-$(PATCHELF_VER).tar.gz: | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ http://nixos.org/releases/patchelf/patchelf-$(PATCHELF_VER)/patchelf-$(PATCHELF_VER).tar.gz
 $(SRCDIR)/srccache/patchelf-$(PATCHELF_VER)/configure: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/patchelf-$(PATCHELF_VER).tar.gz
 	$(JLCHECKSUM) $<
@@ -1904,7 +1914,7 @@ install-patchelf: $(PATCHELF_TARGET)
 GIT_SOURCE = $(BUILDDIR)/git-$(GIT_VER)/git
 GIT_TARGET = $(build_libexecdir)/git
 
-$(SRCDIR)/srccache/git-$(GIT_VER).tar.gz:
+$(SRCDIR)/srccache/git-$(GIT_VER).tar.gz: | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
 	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ https://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/git-$(GIT_VER).tar.gz
 $(BUILDDIR)/git-$(GIT_VER)/configure: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/git-$(GIT_VER).tar.gz
 	$(JLCHECKSUM) $<
@@ -1940,8 +1950,8 @@ install-git: $(GIT_TARGET)
 VIRTUALENV_SOURCE = $(SRCDIR)/srccache/virtualenv-$(VIRTUALENV_VER)/virtualenv.py
 VIRTUALENV_TARGET = $(BUILDDIR)/julia-env
 
-$(SRCDIR)/srccache/virtualenv-$(VIRTUALENV_VER).tar.gz:
-	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ https://pypi.python.org/packages/source/v/virtualenv/$(dir $@)
+$(SRCDIR)/srccache/virtualenv-$(VIRTUALENV_VER).tar.gz: | $(SRCDIR)/srccache
+	$(JLDOWNLOAD) $@ https://pypi.python.org/packages/source/v/virtualenv/$(notdir $@)
 $(VIRTUALENV_SOURCE): $(SRCDIR)/srccache/virtualenv-$(VIRTUALENV_VER).tar.gz
 	$(JLCHECKSUM) $<
 	cd $(dir $<) && $(TAR) zxf $<
@@ -1994,18 +2004,18 @@ $(BUILDDIR)/$(LIBGIT2_SRC_DIR)/Makefile: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/$(LIBGIT2_SRC_DIR)/C
 	$(CMAKE) $(dir $<) $(LIBGIT2_OPTS)
 	touch -c $@
 $(LIBGIT2_OBJ_SOURCE): $(BUILDDIR)/$(LIBGIT2_SRC_DIR)/Makefile
-	$(MAKE) -C $(dir $<)
+	$(CMAKE) --build $(dir $<)
 	touch -c $@
 $(LIBGIT2_SRC_DIR)/checked: $(LIBGIT2_OBJ_SOURCE)
 ifeq ($(OS),$(BUILD_OS))
-	$(MAKE) -C $(dir $@) test
+	$(CMAKE) --build $(dir $@) --target test
 endif
 	echo 1 > $@
 $(LIBGIT2_OBJ_TARGET): $(LIBGIT2_OBJ_SOURCE) | $(build_shlibdir)
 	cp $< $@
-	#$$(call make-install,$(LIBGIT2_SRC_DIR),) # currently don't need the full install
+	@#$$(call make-install,$(LIBGIT2_SRC_DIR),) # currently don't need the full install
 ifeq ($(OS),Linux)
-	# If we're on linux, copy over libssl and libcrypto for libgit2
+	@# If we're on linux, copy over libssl and libcrypto for libgit2
 	-LIBGIT_LIBS=$$(ldd "$@" | tail -n +2 | awk '{print $$(NF-1)}'); \
 	for LIB in libssl libcrypto; do \
 		LIB_PATH=$$(echo "$$LIBGIT_LIBS" | grep "$$LIB"); \
@@ -2019,7 +2029,7 @@ clean-libgit2:
 	-rm -rf $(BUILDDIR)/$(LIBGIT2_SRC_DIR)
 	-rm -f $(LIBGIT2_OBJ_TARGET)
 
-get-libgit2: $(SRCDIR)/srccache/$(LIBGIT2_SRC_DIR)/CMakeLists.txt
+get-libgit2: $(LIBGIT2_SRC_FILE)
 configure-libgit2: $(BUILDDIR)/$(LIBGIT2_SRC_DIR)/Makefile
 compile-libgit2: $(LIBGIT2_OBJ_SOURCE)
 check-libgit2: $(BUILDDIR)/$(LIBGIT2_SRC_DIR)/checked
diff --git a/deps/jlchecksum b/deps/jlchecksum
index 3e64f693573c2..7def72031f865 100755
--- a/deps/jlchecksum
+++ b/deps/jlchecksum
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ fi
 DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "$0" )" && pwd )"
 
 # Get the basename of the file we're trying to checksum
+ARG1=$1
 BASENAME=$(basename $1)
 
 # Print out a hash, and wrap around if we're longer than 64 characters
@@ -66,15 +67,15 @@ MD5_PROG=""
 find_checksum_progs()
 {
     if [ ! -z $(which sha512sum) ]; then
-        SHA512_PROG="sha512sum $DIR/srccache/$BASENAME | awk '{ print \$1; }'"
+        SHA512_PROG="sha512sum $ARG1 | awk '{ print \$1; }'"
     elif [ ! -z $(which shasum) ]; then
-        SHA512_PROG="shasum -a 512 $DIR/srccache/$BASENAME | awk '{ print \$1; }'"
+        SHA512_PROG="shasum -a 512 $ARG1 | awk '{ print \$1; }'"
     fi
 
     if [ ! -z $(which md5sum) ]; then
-        MD5_PROG="md5sum $DIR/srccache/$BASENAME | awk '{ print \$1; }'"
+        MD5_PROG="md5sum $ARG1 | awk '{ print \$1; }'"
     elif [ ! -z $(which md5) ]; then
-        MD5_PROG="md5 -q $DIR/srccache/$BASENAME"
+        MD5_PROG="md5 -q $ARG1"
     fi
 }
 
diff --git a/doc/Makefile b/doc/Makefile
index 08ba8dd25ff9a..e7e83b23f1bd4 100644
--- a/doc/Makefile
+++ b/doc/Makefile
@@ -3,29 +3,31 @@
 default: html
 
 # You can set these variables from the command line.
-SPHINXOPTS       =
-PAPER            =
-JULIAHOME        = $(abspath ..)
-JULIA_EXECUTABLE = $(JULIAHOME)/usr/bin/julia
+SPHINXOPTS       :=
+PAPER            :=
+SRCDIR 			 := $(abspath $(dir $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))
+BUILDDIR         := .
+JULIAHOME        := $(abspath $(SRCDIR)/..)
+JULIA_EXECUTABLE := $(JULIAHOME)/usr/bin/julia
 
 # Internal variables.
-PAPEROPT_a4     = -D latex_paper_size=a4
-PAPEROPT_letter = -D latex_paper_size=letter
-ALLSPHINXOPTS   = -d _build/doctrees $(PAPEROPT_$(PAPER)) $(SPHINXOPTS) .
+PAPEROPT_a4      := -D latex_paper_size=a4
+PAPEROPT_letter  := -D latex_paper_size=letter
+ALLSPHINXOPTS    := -d $(BUILDDIR)/_build/doctrees $(PAPEROPT_$(PAPER)) $(SPHINXOPTS) $(SRCDIR)
 # the i18n builder cannot share the environment and doctrees with the others
-I18NSPHINXOPTS  = $(PAPEROPT_$(PAPER)) $(SPHINXOPTS) .
+I18NSPHINXOPTS   := $(PAPEROPT_$(PAPER)) $(SPHINXOPTS) .
 
-JULIA_ENV     = $(JULIAHOME)/deps/julia-env
-ACTIVATE      = $(JULIA_ENV)/bin/activate
-SPHINX_BUILD  = $(JULIA_ENV)/bin/sphinx-build
+JULIA_ENV        := $(BUILDDIR)/../deps/julia-env
+ACTIVATE         := $(JULIA_ENV)/bin/activate
+SPHINX_BUILD     := $(JULIA_ENV)/bin/sphinx-build
 
 $(ACTIVATE):
-	$(MAKE) -C $(JULIAHOME)/deps install-virtualenv
+	$(MAKE) -C $(BUILDDIR)/../deps install-virtualenv
 	touch -c $@
 
-$(SPHINX_BUILD): $(ACTIVATE) requirements.txt
+$(SPHINX_BUILD): $(SRCDIR)/requirements.txt $(ACTIVATE)
 	. $(ACTIVATE) && pip install sphinx==1.3.1 \
-	              && pip install -r requirements.txt
+	              && pip install -r $<
 	touch -c $@
 
 SPHINXBUILD = . $(ACTIVATE) && sphinx-build
@@ -61,38 +63,38 @@ clean:
 cleanall: clean
 
 html: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b html $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/html
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b html $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/html
 	@echo
 	@echo "Build finished. The HTML pages are in _build/html."
 
 dirhtml: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b dirhtml $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/dirhtml
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b dirhtml $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/dirhtml
 	@echo
 	@echo "Build finished. The HTML pages are in _build/dirhtml."
 
 singlehtml: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b singlehtml $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/singlehtml
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b singlehtml $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/singlehtml
 	@echo
 	@echo "Build finished. The HTML page is in _build/singlehtml."
 
 pickle: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b pickle $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/pickle
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b pickle $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/pickle
 	@echo
 	@echo "Build finished; now you can process the pickle files."
 
 json: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b json $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/json
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b json $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/json
 	@echo
 	@echo "Build finished; now you can process the JSON files."
 
 htmlhelp: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b htmlhelp $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/htmlhelp
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b htmlhelp $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/htmlhelp
 	@echo
 	@echo "Build finished; now you can run HTML Help Workshop with the" \
 	      ".hhp project file in _build/htmlhelp."
 
 qthelp: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b qthelp $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/qthelp
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b qthelp $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/qthelp
 	@echo
 	@echo "Build finished; now you can run "qcollectiongenerator" with the" \
 	      ".qhcp project file in _build/qthelp, like this:"
@@ -101,7 +103,7 @@ qthelp: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
 	@echo "# assistant -collectionFile _build/qthelp/JuliaLanguage.qhc"
 
 devhelp: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b devhelp $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/devhelp
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b devhelp $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/devhelp
 	@echo
 	@echo "Build finished."
 	@echo "To view the help file:"
@@ -110,69 +112,72 @@ devhelp: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
 	@echo "# devhelp"
 
 epub: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b epub $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/epub
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b epub $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/epub
 	@echo
 	@echo "Build finished. The epub file is in _build/epub."
 
 latex: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b latex $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/latex
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b latex $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/latex
 	@echo
 	@echo "Build finished; the LaTeX files are in _build/latex."
 	@echo "Run 'make' in that directory to run these through (pdf)latex" \
 	      "(use 'make latexpdf' here to do that automatically)."
 
 latexpdf: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b latex $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/latex
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b latex $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/latex
 	@echo "Running LaTeX files through pdflatex..."
 	$(MAKE) -C _build/latex all-pdf
 	@echo "pdflatex finished; the PDF files are in _build/latex."
 
 text: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b text $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/text
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b text $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/text
 	@echo
 	@echo "Build finished. The text files are in _build/text."
 
 man: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b man $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/man
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b man $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/man
 	@echo
 	@echo "Build finished. The manual pages are in _build/man."
 
 texinfo: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b texinfo $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/texinfo
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b texinfo $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/texinfo
 	@echo
 	@echo "Build finished. The Texinfo files are in _build/texinfo."
 	@echo "Run 'make' in that directory to run these through makeinfo" \
 	      "(use 'make info' here to do that automatically)."
 
 info: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b texinfo $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/texinfo
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b texinfo $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/texinfo
 	@echo "Running Texinfo files through makeinfo..."
 	make -C _build/texinfo info
 	@echo "makeinfo finished; the Info files are in _build/texinfo."
 
 gettext: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b gettext $(I18NSPHINXOPTS) _build/locale
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b gettext $(I18NSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/locale
 	@echo
 	@echo "Build finished. The message catalogs are in _build/locale."
 
 changes: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b changes $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/changes
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b changes $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/changes
 	@echo
 	@echo "The overview file is in _build/changes."
 
 linkcheck: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b linkcheck $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/linkcheck
+	$(SPHINXBUILD) -b linkcheck $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/linkcheck
 	@echo
 	@echo "Link check complete; look for any errors in the above output " \
 	      "or in _build/linkcheck/output.txt."
 
 doctest: $(SPHINX_BUILD)
-	PATH="$(PATH):$(build_bindir)" $(SPHINXBUILD) -b doctest $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) _build/doctest
+	PATH="$(build_bindir):$(PATH)" $(SPHINXBUILD) -b doctest $(ALLSPHINXOPTS) $(BUILDDIR)/_build/doctest
 	@echo "Testing of doctests in the sources finished, look at the " \
 	      "results in _build/doctest/output.txt."
 
-manual/unicode-input-table.rst: $(JULIAHOME)/base/latex_symbols.jl
-	$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE) tabcomplete.jl > manual/unicode-input-table.rst
+$(BUILDDIR)/manual:
+	mkdir -p $@
 
-unicode: manual/unicode-input-table.rst
+$(BUILDDIR)/manual/unicode-input-table.rst: $(SRCDIR)/tabcomplete.jl $(JULIAHOME)/base/latex_symbols.jl | $(BUILDDIR)/manual
+	$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE) $< > $@
+
+unicode: $(BUILDDIR)/manual/unicode-input-table.rst
 
diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index a17d5d325f685..da8f8758b097a 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 SRCDIR := $(abspath $(dir $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))
 JULIAHOME := $(abspath $(SRCDIR)/..)
-BUILDDIR ?= .
+BUILDDIR := .
 include $(JULIAHOME)/deps/Versions.make
 include $(JULIAHOME)/Make.inc
 
diff --git a/src/dump.c b/src/dump.c
index ce2426576c8b0..2929477a555aa 100644
--- a/src/dump.c
+++ b/src/dump.c
@@ -1756,6 +1756,14 @@ void jl_save_system_image_to_stream(ios_t *f)
     // orphan old Base module if present
     jl_base_module = (jl_module_t*)jl_get_global(jl_main_module, jl_symbol("Base"));
 
+    // empty!(Core.ARGS)
+    if (jl_core_module != NULL) {
+        jl_array_t *args = (jl_array_t*)jl_get_global(jl_core_module, jl_symbol("ARGS"));
+        if (args != NULL) {
+            jl_array_del_end(args, jl_array_len(args));
+        }
+    }
+
     jl_idtable_type = jl_base_module ? jl_get_global(jl_base_module, jl_symbol("ObjectIdDict")) : NULL;
 
     jl_serialize_value(f, jl_main_module);
diff --git a/src/flisp/Makefile b/src/flisp/Makefile
index bec862493544c..1dfc7a52ed318 100644
--- a/src/flisp/Makefile
+++ b/src/flisp/Makefile
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
-JULIAHOME = $(abspath ../..)
+JULIAHOME := $(abspath ../..)
+BUILDDIR := .
 include $(JULIAHOME)/Make.inc
 
 override CFLAGS += $(JCFLAGS)
 override CXXFLAGS += $(JCXXFLAGS)
 override CPPFLAGS += $(JCPPFLAGS)
 
-BUILDDIR ?= .
-
 NAME = flisp
 EXENAME = $(NAME)
 LIBTARGET = lib$(NAME)
diff --git a/src/support/Makefile b/src/support/Makefile
index 382377e62aa5e..c03767c2dbafe 100644
--- a/src/support/Makefile
+++ b/src/support/Makefile
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
-JULIAHOME = $(abspath ../..)
+JULIAHOME := $(abspath ../..)
+BUILDDIR := .
 include $(JULIAHOME)/Make.inc
 
 override CFLAGS += $(JCFLAGS)
 override CXXFLAGS += $(JCXXFLAGS)
 override CPPFLAGS += $(JCPPFLAGS)
 
-BUILDDIR ?= .
-
 SRCS = hashing timefuncs ptrhash operators \
 	utf8 ios htable bitvector \
 	int2str libsupportinit arraylist strtod
diff --git a/test/Makefile b/test/Makefile
index c7848e0644c45..1da9f0242edfb 100644
--- a/test/Makefile
+++ b/test/Makefile
@@ -1,25 +1,28 @@
-JULIAHOME = $(abspath ..)
-include ../Make.inc
+SRCDIR := $(abspath $(dir $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))
+JULIAHOME := $(abspath $(SRCDIR)/..)
+BUILDDIR := .
+include $(JULIAHOME)/Make.inc
+# TODO: this Makefile ignores BUILDDIR, except for computing JULIA_EXECUTABLE
 
 TESTS = all linalg $(filter-out TestHelpers runtests testdefs,$(subst .jl,,$(wildcard *.jl linalg/*.jl)))
 
 default: all
 
 $(TESTS):
-	@$(call PRINT_JULIA, $(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) --check-bounds=yes --startup-file=no ./runtests.jl $@)
+	@cd $(SRCDIR) && $(call PRINT_JULIA, $(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) --check-bounds=yes --startup-file=no ./runtests.jl $@)
 
 perf:
-	@$(MAKE) -C perf all
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(SRCDIR)/perf all
 
 clean:
-	@$(MAKE) -C perf $@
-	-rm -f libccalltest.$(SHLIB_EXT) ccalltest
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(SRCDIR)/perf clean
+	-rm -f $(SRCDIR)/libccalltest.$(SHLIB_EXT) $(SRCDIR)/ccalltest
 
 .PHONY: $(TESTS) perf clean libccalltest
 
-all ccall libccalltest: libccalltest.$(SHLIB_EXT)
-libccalltest.$(SHLIB_EXT): ccalltest.c
+all ccall libccalltest: $(SRCDIR)/libccalltest.$(SHLIB_EXT)
+$(SRCDIR)/libccalltest.$(SHLIB_EXT): $(SRCDIR)/ccalltest.c
 	@$(call PRINT_CC, $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(DEBUGFLAGS) -O3 $< $(fPIC) -shared -o $@ $(LDFLAGS) -DCC="$(CC)")
 
-ccalltest: ccalltest.c libccalltest.$(SHLIB_EXT)
+$(SRCDIR)/ccalltest: $(SRCDIR)/ccalltest.c $(SRCDIR)/libccalltest.$(SHLIB_EXT)
 	@$(call PRINT_CC, $(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(DEBUGFLAGS) -O3 $< -o $@ $(LDFLAGS) -DCC="$(CC)")
diff --git a/test/perf/Makefile b/test/perf/Makefile
index 848dfbcbe3f28..0ff723aa70f7b 100644
--- a/test/perf/Makefile
+++ b/test/perf/Makefile
@@ -1,34 +1,37 @@
-JULIAHOME = $(abspath ../..)
-include ../../Make.inc
+SRCDIR := $(abspath $(dir $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))
+JULIAHOME := $(abspath $(SRCDIR)/../..)
+BUILDDIR := .
+include $(JULIAHOME)/Make.inc
+# TODO: this Makefile ignores BUILDDIR, except for computing JULIA_EXECUTABLE
+
 
 all: micro kernel cat shootout blas lapack simd sort spell sparse
 
 micro kernel cat shootout blas lapack simd sort spell sparse:
-	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C shootout
+	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(SRCDIR)/shootout
 ifneq ($(OS),WINNT)
-	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) $@/perf.jl | perl -nle '@_=split/,/; printf "%-18s %8.3f %8.3f %8.3f %8.3f\n", $$_[1], $$_[2], $$_[3], $$_[4], $$_[5]'
+	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) $(SRCDIR)/$@/perf.jl | perl -nle '@_=split/,/; printf "%-18s %8.3f %8.3f %8.3f %8.3f\n", $$_[1], $$_[2], $$_[3], $$_[4], $$_[5]'
 else
-	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) $@/perf.jl 2> /dev/null
+	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) $(SRCDIR)/$@/perf.jl 2> /dev/null
 endif
 
 codespeed:
-	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C shootout
-	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) micro/perf.jl codespeed
-	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) kernel/perf.jl codespeed
-	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) shootout/perf.jl codespeed
-#	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) cat/perf.jl codespeed
-#	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) blas/perf.jl codespeed
-#	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) lapack/perf.jl codespeed
-#	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) simd/perf.jl codespeed
-#	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) sort/perf.jl codespeed
-	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) spell/perf.jl codespeed
-	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) sparse/perf.jl codespeed
-	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) report.jl
+	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(SRCDIR)/shootout
+	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) $(SRCDIR)/micro/perf.jl codespeed
+	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) $(SRCDIR)/kernel/perf.jl codespeed
+	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) $(SRCDIR)/shootout/perf.jl codespeed
+#	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) $(SRCDIR)/cat/perf.jl codespeed
+#	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) $(SRCDIR)/blas/perf.jl codespeed
+#	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) $(SRCDIR)/lapack/perf.jl codespeed
+#	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) $(SRCDIR)/simd/perf.jl codespeed
+#	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) $(SRCDIR)/sort/perf.jl codespeed
+	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) $(SRCDIR)/spell/perf.jl codespeed
+	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) $(SRCDIR)/sparse/perf.jl codespeed
+	@$(call spawn,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE)) $(SRCDIR)/report.jl
 
 
 clean:
-	rm -f *~
-	$(MAKE) -C micro $@
-	$(MAKE) -C shootout $@
+	$(MAKE) -C $(SRCDIR)/micro clean
+	$(MAKE) -C $(SRCDIR)/shootout clean
 
 .PHONY: micro kernel cat shootout blas lapack simd sort spell sparse clean
diff --git a/ui/repl.c b/ui/repl.c
index a4c11ea2dc41b..5ef39003f7f6c 100644
--- a/ui/repl.c
+++ b/ui/repl.c
@@ -456,11 +456,11 @@ static void print_profile(void)
 
 static int true_main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
-    if (jl_base_module != NULL) {
-        jl_array_t *args = (jl_array_t*)jl_get_global(jl_base_module, jl_symbol("ARGS"));
+    if (jl_core_module != NULL) {
+        jl_array_t *args = (jl_array_t*)jl_get_global(jl_core_module, jl_symbol("ARGS"));
         if (args == NULL) {
             args = jl_alloc_cell_1d(0);
-            jl_set_const(jl_base_module, jl_symbol("ARGS"), (jl_value_t*)args);
+            jl_set_const(jl_core_module, jl_symbol("ARGS"), (jl_value_t*)args);
         }
         assert(jl_array_len(args) == 0);
         jl_array_grow_end(args, argc);