From dd5a53307297677edd508243ffa33c22900360b5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "Gary V. Vaughan" <gary@gnu.org>
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 18:23:06 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] Release v8.0.0.

Signed-off-by: Gary V. Vaughan <gary@gnu.org>
---
 .travis.yml                                   | 185 ++++--
 ChangeLog                                     | 552 ++++++++++++++++++
 Makefile.am                                   |  33 +-
 Makefile.in                                   | 149 +++--
 NEWS                                          | 147 ++++-
 README                                        |  10 +-
 aclocal.m4                                    |   1 -
 bootstrap                                     | 325 +++++++++--
 bootstrap.conf                                |  19 +-
 build-aux/bootstrap.in                        | 187 ++++--
 build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot                 | 136 ++++-
 build-aux/merge-sections                      |   9 +-
 build-aux/mkrockspecs                         |  11 +-
 build-aux/release.mk                          |  23 +-
 build-aux/specl.mk                            |  10 +-
 configure                                     | 119 ++--
 configure.ac                                  |   5 +-
 {docs => doc}/mkrockspecs.1                   |   4 +-
 local.mk                                      |   2 +-
 m4/ax_lua.m4                                  |  45 +-
 m4/slingshot.m4                               |  42 --
 rockspec.conf                                 |   2 +-
 ...7-1.rockspec => slingshot-8.0.0-1.rockspec |  10 +-
 specs/mkrockspecs_spec.yaml                   |  23 +-
 src/merge-sections.in                         |   7 +-
 src/mkrockspecs.in                            |   9 +-
 src/src.mk                                    |  10 +-
 travis.yml.in                                 | 182 ++++--
 28 files changed, 1740 insertions(+), 517 deletions(-)
 rename {docs => doc}/mkrockspecs.1 (89%)
 delete mode 100644 m4/slingshot.m4
 rename slingshot-7-1.rockspec => slingshot-8.0.0-1.rockspec (78%)

diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 98d8c76..b9f4df4 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,69 +1,136 @@
-# Lua is not officially supported, but an erlang environment will do.
-language: erlang
+language: c
 
 env:
   global:
-    - PACKAGE=slingshot
-    - ROCKSPEC=$PACKAGE-git-1.rockspec
-    - LUAROCKS_CONFIG=build-aux/luarocks-config.lua
-    - LUAROCKS="$LUA $HOME/bin/luarocks"
+    - _COMPILE="libtool --mode=compile --tag=CC gcc"
+    - _CFLAGS="-O2 -Wall -DLUA_COMPAT_ALL -DLUA_USE_LINUX"
+    - _INSTALL="libtool --mode=install install -p"
+    - _LINK="libtool --mode=link --tag=CC gcc"
+    - _LIBS="-lm -Wl,-E -ldl -lreadline"
+
+    - prefix=/usr/local
+    - bindir=$prefix/bin
+    - incdir=$prefix/include
+    - libdir=$prefix/lib
   matrix:
-    - LUA=lua5.1             LUA_INCDIR=/usr/include/lua5.1     LUA_SUFFIX=5.1
-    - LUA=lua5.2             LUA_INCDIR=/usr/include/lua5.2     LUA_SUFFIX=5.2
-    - LUA=luajit-2.0.0-beta9 LUA_INCDIR=/usr/include/luajit-2.0 LUA_SUFFIX=5.1
+    - LUA=lua5.3
+    - LUA=lua5.2
+    - LUA=lua5.1
+    - LUA=luajit
 
-# Tool setup.
-install:
+
+before_install:
   # Put back the links for libyaml, which are missing on recent Travis VMs
   - test -f /usr/lib/libyaml.so ||
     sudo find /usr/lib -name 'libyaml*' -exec ln -s {} /usr/lib \;
-
   - sudo apt-get install help2man
-  - sudo apt-get install luajit
-  - sudo apt-get install libluajit-5.1-dev
-  - sudo apt-get install lua5.1
-  - sudo apt-get install liblua5.1-dev
-  - sudo apt-get install lua5.2
-  - sudo apt-get install liblua5.2-dev
-
-  # Install a luarocks beta locally for everything else.
-  - git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/keplerproject/luarocks.git
-  # LuaRocks configure --with-lua argument is just a prefix!
-  - ( cd luarocks;
-      ./configure
-      --prefix=$HOME --with-lua=/usr --lua-version=$LUA_SUFFIX
-      --lua-suffix=$LUA_SUFFIX --with-lua-include=$LUA_INCDIR;
-      make build;
-      make install; )
-
-# Configure and build.
+
+  # Fetch Lua sources.
+  - cd $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR
+  - 'if test lua5.3 = "$LUA"; then
+      curl http://www.lua.org/work/lua-5.3.0-rc1.tar.gz | tar xz;
+      cd lua-5.3.0;
+    fi'
+  - 'if test lua5.2 = "$LUA"; then
+      curl http://www.lua.org/ftp/lua-5.2.3.tar.gz | tar xz;
+      cd lua-5.2.3;
+    fi'
+  - 'if test lua5.1 = "$LUA"; then
+      curl http://www.lua.org/ftp/lua-5.1.5.tar.gz | tar xz;
+      cd lua-5.1.5;
+    fi'
+
+  # Unpack, compile and install Lua.
+  - 'if test luajit = "$LUA"; then
+      curl http://luajit.org/download/LuaJIT-2.0.3.tar.gz | tar xz;
+      cd LuaJIT-2.0.3;
+      make && sudo make install;
+      for header in lua.h luaconf.h lualib.h lauxlib.h luajit.h lua.hpp; do
+        if test -f /usr/local/include/luajit-2.0/$header; then
+          sudo ln -s /usr/local/include/luajit-2.0/$header /usr/local/include/$header;
+        fi;
+      done;
+    else
+      for src in src/*.c; do
+        test src/lua.c = "$src" || test src/luac.c = "$src" || eval $_COMPILE $_CFLAGS -c $src;
+      done;
+      eval $_LINK -o lib$LUA.la -version-info 0:0:0 -rpath $libdir *.lo;
+      sudo mkdir -p $libdir;
+      eval sudo $_INSTALL lib$LUA.la $libdir/lib$LUA.la;
+
+      eval $_COMPILE $_CFLAGS -c src/lua.c;
+      eval $_LINK -static -o $LUA lua.lo lib$LUA.la $_LIBS;
+      sudo mkdir -p $bindir;
+      eval sudo $_INSTALL $LUA $bindir/$LUA;
+
+      sudo mkdir -p $incdir;
+      for header in lua.h luaconf.h lualib.h lauxlib.h lua.hpp; do
+        if test -f src/$header; then
+          eval sudo $_INSTALL src/$header $incdir/$header;
+        fi;
+      done;
+    fi'
+
+  # Fetch LuaRocks.
+  - cd $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR
+  - 'git clone https://github.com/keplerproject/luarocks.git luarocks-2.2.0'
+  - cd luarocks-2.2.0
+  - git checkout v2.2.0
+
+  # Compile and install luarocks.
+  - if test luajit = "$LUA"; then
+      ./configure --lua-suffix=jit;
+    else
+      ./configure;
+    fi
+  - 'make build && sudo make install'
+
+  # Tidy up file droppings.
+  - cd $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR
+  - rm -rf lua-5.3.0 lua-5.2.3 lua-5.1.5 LuaJIT-2.0.3 luarocks-2.2.0
+
+
+install:
+  # Use Lua 5.3 compatible rocks, where available.
+  - 'for rock in specl""; do
+       if test -z "$rock"; then break; fi;
+       if luarocks list | grep "^$rock$" >/dev/null; then continue; fi;
+       sudo luarocks install --server=http://rocks.moonscript.org/manifests/gvvaughan $rock;
+    done'
+
+  # Build from rockspec.
+  - export ROCKSPEC=slingshot-8.0.0-1.rockspec
+  - 'test -f "$ROCKSPEC" || ROCKSPEC=slingshot-git-1.rockspec'
+  - sudo luarocks make $ROCKSPEC LUA="$LUA"
+
+  # Clean up files created by root
+  - sudo git clean -dfx
+  - sudo rm -rf slingshot
+
+
 script:
-  # Initial bootstrap to build luarocks-config.lua, before we've
-  # installed our rocks.
-  - ./bootstrap --skip-rock-checks
-  - ./configure LUA="$LUA"
-  - make $LUAROCKS_CONFIG
-    LUA="$LUA" LUA_INCDIR="$LUA_INCDIR" V=1
-    || cat $LUAROCKS_CONFIG config.log
-
-  # Set Lua and Shell paths up for local luarocks tree.
-  # this package depends on will be installed.
-  - eval `$LUAROCKS path`
-  - export PATH=`pwd`/luarocks/bin:$PATH
-
-  # Install extra rocks into $LUAROCKS_CONFIG rocks tree.
-  - $LUAROCKS install lyaml; $LUAROCKS install specl;
-
-  # Make git rockspec for this slingshot
-  - make rockspecs LUAROCKS="$LUAROCKS" V=1
-    || { $LUAROCKS path; cat $ROCKSPEC; }
-
-  # The git rockspec will rerun bootstrap, and check any rock versions
-  # in bootstrap.conf:buildreq this time.
-  - $LUAROCKS make $ROCKSPEC LUA="$LUA"
-
-  # Run self-tests in the `luarocks make` build tree.
-  - LUA_PATH=`pwd`'/lib/?.lua;'"${LUA_PATH-;}"
-    LUA_CPATH=`pwd`'/ext/?.so;'"${LUA_CPATH-;}"
-    LUA_INIT= LUA_INIT_5_2=
-    make check V=1
+  - 'if test -f configure; then
+      touch aclocal.m4;
+      sleep 1; touch Makefile.in;
+      sleep 1; touch config.h.in;
+      sleep 1; touch configure;
+    else
+      ./bootstrap --verbose;
+    fi'
+  - test -f Makefile || ./configure --disable-silent-rules LUA="$LUA"
+  - make
+  - make check V=1
+
+
+# Run sanity checks on CI server, ignoring buggy automakes.
+after_success:
+  - '{ _assign="=";
+       if grep local-checks-to-skip build-aux/sanity-cfg.mk >/dev/null; then
+         _assign="+=";
+       fi;
+       printf "local-checks-to-skip %s sc_vulnerable_makefile_CVE-2012-3386\n" "$_assign";
+     } >> build-aux/sanity-cfg.mk'
+  - 'make syntax-check || : this will usually fail on the release branch'
+
+notifications:
+  slack: aspirinc:JyWeNrIdS0J5nf2Pn2BS1cih
diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 8e1ca08..9da5209 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,5 +1,557 @@
+2014-12-31  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
+
+	Release version 8.0.0
+	* NEWS.md: Record release date.
+
+	bootstrap: bump minimum specl requirement to version 14.
+	* bootstrap.conf (buildreq): Bump Specl requirement to version 14.
+
+	specs: correctly support VPATH builds ala make distcheck.
+	* specs/mkrockspecs_spec.yaml: Use the doc directory for examples
+	that need a directory present in $builddir.
+
+	maint: commit git rockspec to master.
+	* .gitignore: Unignore git rockspec.
+	* slingshot-git-1.rockspec: New file.
+	* rockspec.conf (dependencies): Not yet Lua 5.4 ready!
+
+	maint: remove trailing whitespace.
+	* NEWS.md: Remove trailing whitespace.
+
+	configury: set slingshot_files to regenerate .travis.yml.
+	* bootstrap.conf (slingshot_files): Add travis.yml.in to make
+	sure slingshot_update_travis_yml() triggers.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: avoid erroring out on release branch.
+	* travis.yml.in (env): Remove ROCKSPEC setting.
+	(before_install): Clean up LuaJIT-2.0.3 directory droppings.
+	(install): If there is a release rockspec use it, falling back
+	to git rockspec otherwise.
+	(script): Autofool timestamps when we can avoid bootstrapping
+	on ready-to-configure release branches.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot (slingshot_update_travis_yml):
+	Substitute for @VERSION@ when generating .travis.yml.
+
+	travis: be careful about precious configure environment vars.
+	It's not safe to set things like CFLAGS and INSTALL in the global
+	environment, because those settings also leak into `./configure`
+	invocations.
+	* travis.yml.in (env.global): Prefix COMPILE, CFLAGS, INSTALL,
+	LINK and LIBS with an underscore. Adjust all references to match.
+
+2014-12-29  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
+
+	release: be sure to put NEWS back before calling automake.
+	* build-aux/release.mk (Makefile.in): Depend on NEWS.
+
+	bootstrap: simplify bootstrap update warning.
+	It was confusing to sometimes have to `cp -f slingshot/bootstrap`
+	versus sometimes `mv -f bootstrap.new`.  Perform the copy
+	automatically, and always advise using mv regardless of source.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot (slingshot_require_bootstrap_uptodate):
+	Remove stale bootstrap.new, then copy from slingshot/bootstrap
+	when necessary, in order to simplify update instructions.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+
+	bootstrap: remove .travis.yml.new more aggressively.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot (slingshot_update_travis_yml):
+	Remove .travis.yml.new unconditionally before creating a new one.
+	(_travis_yml_out): Correct references from this...
+	(_G_travis_yml_out): ...to this.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+
+	bootstrap: only present updated travis.yml in a git working tree.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot (slingshot_update_travis_yml):
+	If $GIT has been disabled by $require_git, skip checks and updates
+	for .travis.yml.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+
+2014-12-27  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
+
+	bootstrap: regenerate.
+
+	bootstrap: fix command substitution quoting.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot (slingshot_update_travis_yml):
+	Quote command substitution correctly for multiple extra rocks.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+
+	release: use AM_V_GEN for NEWS.
+	* build-aux/release.mk (NEWS): Add AM_V_GEN invocation to NEWS.
+
+	release: do-release-commit-and-tag depends on NEWS.
+	* build-aux/release.mk (release-commit): Add NEWS dependency, so
+	the link is in place before running do-release-commit-and-tag.
+
+	release: remove a stray trailing backslash.
+	* build-aux/release.mk (release-prep): Remove a stray trailing
+	backslash.
+
+	Revert "bootstrap: make sure slingshot bootstrap overrides correctly."
+	This reverts commit ee7a39d8cd918549c69c161232186b6bd254ca06.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot: Due to multiple section recurrences
+	in upstream bootstrap.in, this didn't work anyway.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+
+	bootstrap: elide original require_bootstrap_uptodate setting.
+	The pre-merge expanded bootstrap.in from upstream has several
+	occurrences of many section headers, so we have to use the -e
+	option of our merge-sections script to elide the original
+	bootstrap.in definition of require_bootstrap_uptodate, so that
+	our improved version takes precedence.
+	* bootstrap.conf (require_bootstrap_uptodate): When generating
+	the merged bootstrap script elide require_bootstrap_uptodate
+	setting.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+
+2014-12-26  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
+
+	bootstrap: sync with upstream, for version output fix.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.in: Sync with upstream.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+
+2014-12-24  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
+
+	bootstrap: extract PACKAGE from configure properly.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot (slingshot_update_travis_yml):
+	Extract PACKAGE from configure properly.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+
+	NEWS: Update.
+
+	bootstrap: make sure slingshot bootstrap overrides correctly.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot (require_bootstrap_uptodate):
+	Move to the later 'Helper functions' section to make sure the
+	original namesake is properly overridden.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: move .travis.yml regeneration from configure to bootstrap.
+	* m4/slingshot.m4: Remove unused file.
+	* configure.ac (SS_CONFIG_TRAVIS): Remove.
+	* bootstrap.conf (travis_extra_rocks): New variable to list rocks
+	formerly listed in SS_CONFIG_TRAVIS parameters.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot (slingshot_update_travis_yml): New
+	function to ensure .travis.yml doesn't go out of date.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+
+	maint: use github markdown compatible multi-paragraph bullets.
+	* NEWS: Indent bullets an extra space so that they render
+	properly in the github web interface with multiple paragraph
+	bullet items.
+
+	bootstrap: detect out of date bootstrap with slingshot clients.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot (require_bootstrap_uptodate): A
+	third version of this function!  The main one from upstream
+	bootstrap is overridden by ./bootstrap.conf to merge in the extra
+	functions in this file.  The new one here is to automate checking
+	for out of date bootstrap in slingshot client projects when they
+	update their slingshot submodule and rebootstrap.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+	* NEWS: Update.
+
+2014-12-19  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
+
+	release: fix remaining hard-coded references to NEWS.
+	* build-aux/release.mk (NEWS): New rule. Link to NEWS.md etc.
+	(release-commit): Use readlink to follow NEWS symbolic link.
+
+	maint: don't regenerate rockspecs for announcement.
+	We don't want the `GEN foo.rockspec` lines in the announcement
+	message.
+	* build-aux/release.mk (announcement): Remove rockspec dependency.
+
+	configury: add luaexec module uninstall hook.
+	* Makefile.am (uninstall-luaexec-modules): Uninstall luaexec
+	modules, even though we didn't install the .la file that
+	Automake's uninstall rules rely on.
+	(uninstall_hooks): Add uninstall-luaexec-modules.
+	(uninstall-hook): Depend on uninstall_hooks.
+
+	maint: escape comment chars in news-check-regexp.
+
+	maint: fix news-check-regexp.
+	* build-aux/release.mk (news-check-regexp): Adjust for Markdown
+	format NEWS.
+	* README.md: Update NEWS format reference.
+
+	do-release-commit-and-tag: follows NEWS symbolic link.
+	* build-aux/do-release-commit-and-tag (NEWS): Use readlink to
+	find link destination if any.
+	Update all clients.
+
+	bootstrap: let submodule GNUmakefile rebootstrap rule trigger.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot (slingshot_copy_files): Don't
+	manually bootstrap.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+
+2014-12-18  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
+
+	bootstrap: bootstrap slingshot submodule before make.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot (slingshot_copy_files): Run
+	bootstrap in a freshly checked out slingshot submodule.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+
+	maint: add NEWS to .gitignore.
+
+2014-12-18  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@vaughan.pe>
+
+	maint: reformat NEWS.md as valid markdown.
+
+2014-12-18  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
+
+	maint: move NEWS to NEWS.md.
+	* NEWS: Move from here...
+	* NEWS.md: ...to here.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.in: Sync with upstream, for NEWS.md
+	support.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+
+	maint: move to Markdown format NEWS and release announcements.
+	* build-aux/do-release-commit-and-tag (noteworthy): Use a ##
+	prefix for new noteworthy changes lines.
+	* build-aux/release.mk (gl_noteworthy_news_): Update regexp.
+	(announcement): Generate Markdown format.
+	* NEWS: Reformat.
+	* local.mk (old_NEWS_hash): Regenerate.
+
+	configury: avoid spurious .travis.yml regeneration.
+	* m4/slingshot.m4 (SS_CONFIG_TRAVIS): Use cp instead of mv to
+	ensure the .travis.yml timestamp is updated, avoiding spurious
+	remakes on multiple make reruns.
+
+	configury: simplify regeneration rules for .travis.yml.
+	When called by make as just `config.status .travis.yml`, the
+	travis-yml-up-to-date commands did not run, and so a spurious
+	.travis.yml.new file dropping would appear occasionally.
+	* m4/slingshot.m4 (SS_CONFIG_TRAVIS): Consolidate regeneration
+	log entirely in the AC_CONFIG_FILES call for .travis.yml to
+	prevent this, and simplify accordingly.
+
+	travis: run luarocks install as superuser.
+	* travis.yml.in (install): Run luarocks install as superuser.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: don't skip every EXTRA_ROCK.
+	* travis.yml.in (install): Don't skip every EXTRA_ROCK!
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: try moonscript gvvaughan manifest first, for Lua 5.3 rocks.
+	* m4/slingshot.m4 (SS_CONFIG_TRAVIS): AC_SUBST arguments to this
+	macro as EXTRA_ROCKS without munging.
+	* travis.yml.in (install): Install EXTRA_ROCKS using moonscript
+	gvvaughan manifest first, for Lua 5.3 compatible rocks not yet
+	available in the moonscript root manifest.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	mkrockspecs: accept and export luajit as LUA.
+	* src/merge-sections.in, src/mkrockspecs.in
+	(shell re-execute preamble): If LUA is not already in the
+	environment, accept a binary called luajit from the path, and
+	in any case re-export the discovered binary.
+	* build-aux/merge-sections: Regenerate.
+
+	configury: show a warning rather than always updating .travis.yml.
+	Close #8.
+	* m4/slingshot.m4 (SS_CONFIG_TRAVIS): Save the incumbent
+	.travis.yml contents, and warn about impending regeneration
+	rather than always updating it.
+	* NEWS: Update.
+
+	maint: Add missing NEWS items.
+	* NEWS: Reformat slightly, for easier pasting into Markdown
+	format GitHub release announcement.
+	Add forgotten items since last release.
+
+	bootstrap: don't run `git submodule update` outside working dir.
+	5cd707a was not quite correct, and would sometimes try to update
+	submodules in a tarball source tree.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot
+	(slingshot_require_slingshot_submodule): If there is a .gitmodules
+	file, make sure it contains the slingshot submodule, and update
+	it to the correct version for the parent revision; incidentally
+	only doing a full clone of the submodule along the way if it is
+	entirely absent.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+
+	configury: don't install .la files for Lua modules.
+	* Makefile.am (remove-luaexec-lafiles): New install hook for
+	removing .la files for Lua modules.
+	(install_exec_hooks): Add remove-luaexec-lafiles rule.
+	* NEWS: Updated.
+
+	configury: lua modules should install to luaexec_LTLIBRARIES.
+	* Makefile.am (luaexec_LTLIBRARIES): Set this for appending to
+	from included make fragments, because we want `make install` to
+	put modules into e.g. /usr/local/lib/lua/5.3, not /usr/local/lib.
+	* NEWS: Updated.
+	Reported by Dennis Schridde <devurandom@gmx.net>
+
+	configury: reset release version to 8.0.0:
+	* configure.ac (AC_INIT): Reset release version to 8.0.0.  The
+	most recent pre-semantic versioning release was 7.
+	* build-aux/merge-sections: Regenerate.
+
+2014-12-17  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
+
+	bootstrap: always run `git submodule update -- slingshot`.
+	If we are in a git directory, and there is a git executable in
+	the user's PATH, then always synchronize the slingshot submodule
+	in case we changed revisions since the last bootstrap run.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot
+	(slingshot_require_slingshot_submodule): Move the $GIT calls and
+	dependencies out of the inner if, so that it always triggers
+	when we have a git binary.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: remove sudo owned directories from luarocks make.
+	* travis.yml.in (install): Remove root owned compiler objects.
+	(script): Rebuild user owned compiler objects.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	do-release-commit-and-tag: fix version order check.
+	* build-aux/do-release-commit-and-tag (func_lt_ver): Check the
+	first version given is older than the second.
+	Use it instead of a case and tr combo.
+
+	do-release-commit-and-tag: simplify func_sort_ver.
+	* build-aux/do-release-commit-and-tag (func_sort_ver): Use
+	simpler definition from bootstrap.
+
+	travis: link luajit header into /usr/local/include.
+	* travis.yml.in (before_install): Link luajit headers into
+	/usr/local/include.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: use libtool --quiet mode.
+	* travis.yml.in (env): Use libtool --quiet mode.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: fix directory change for luajit.
+	* travis.yml.in (before_install): Fix directory change for luajit.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: don't forget to bootstrap and configure.
+	* travis.yml.in (install): Don't forget to bootstrap and configure.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: fix url for luajit.
+	* travis.yml.in: Fix url for luajit download.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	maint: remove trailing whitespace.
+	* travis.yml.in: Remove trailing whitespace.
+
+	travis: replace another shell && operation.
+	* travis.yml.in (before_insta[[): Replace another shell &&
+	operation with an equivalent if statement.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: don't use $CC, travis overwrites it.
+	* travis.yml.in (CC, LD): Rename from these...
+	(COMPILE, LINK): ...to these, respectively. Adjust all callers.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: regenerate .travis.yml
+
+	travis: debug failing source compilations.
+
+	travis: be wary of && shell operator return status.
+	* travis.yml.in: Be wary of && shell operator return status.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: insert missing semicolons.
+	* travis.yml.in: Insert missing semicolons.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: regenerate .travis.yml.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: merge .travis/* into travis.yaml.in.
+	* .travis/platform.sh: Remove.
+	* .travis/setup_lua.sh: Remove, but move content from here...
+	* travis.yml.in: ...to here, reformat and simplify.
+
+	travis: revert removal of CI syntax checks.
+	* travis.yml.in (script): Reinstate accidentally removed CI
+	syntax checks.
+
+	travis: fix test_double_equal syntax-check failures.
+	* .travis/setup_lua.sh: Use portable "test x = y" expressions.
+
+	configury: adopt semantic versioning.
+	* configure.ac (AC_INIT): Bump version to 9.0.0.
+	* build-aux/merge-sections: Regenerate.
+
+	specs: remove debug code.
+	* specs/mkrockspecs_spec.yaml: Remove debug code.
+
+	specs: don't rely on possibly missing doc directory.
+	* specs/mkrockspecs_spec.yaml: Use m4 as a temporary directory
+	with no other `.lua` files in it.
+
+	travis: install Lua header files.
+	* .travis/setup_lua.sh: Install Lua header files.
+
+	travis: spell $PLATFORM correctly.
+	* .travis/setup_lua.sh ($PLATFORM): not $platform.
+
+	travis: make sure we build dynamic liblua.
+	* .travis/setup_lua.sh: Instead of relying on the upstream Lua
+	Makefile, which has no shared library targets, call libtool
+	directly to perform the compilations, linking and installation.
+
+2014-12-16  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
+
+	travis: ensure /usr/local/bin/$LUA is available.
+	* .travis/setup_lua.sh: Make a $LUA link in /usr/local/bin for
+	subsequent scripts that treat $LUA as the user override.
+
+	travis: set LUAROCKS for setup_lua.sh.
+	* travis.yml.in (LUAROCKS_BASE): Rename from this...
+	(LUAROCKS): ...to this.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: support Lua 5.3 matrix.
+	* .travis/platform.sh, .travis/setup_lua.sh: New scripts to setup
+	lua and luarocks on travis, from luafilesystem project.
+	* travis.yml.in: Simplify accordingly.
+	(matrix): Add Lua 5.3.
+	* m4/slingshot.m4 (SS_CONFIG_TRAVIS): Generate EXTRA_ROCKS to
+	match simplified .travis.yml.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	maint: preliminary Lua 5.3.x compatibility.
+	* configure.ac (AX_PROG_LUA): Accept Lua 5.3 interpreters.
+	* src/merge-sections.in, src/mkrockspecs.in: Search for lua5.3 or
+	lua53 when re-executing with shell preamble.
+	* build-aux/merge-sections: Regenerate.
+
+	doc: don't carry upstream bootstrap.texi.
+	* docs/bootstrap.texi: Remove.
+	* README.md: Add reference to upstream project for latest docs,
+	and remove reference to local copy.
+	* src/src.mk (man_MANS): Generate mkrockspecs.1 in standard 'doc'
+	subdirectory.
+	(EXTRA_DIST, CLEANFILES): Update accordingly.
+	* specs/mkrockspecs_spec.yaml: Adjust 'docs' references
+	accordingly.
+
+	bootstrap: sync with upstream.
+	Pick up recent fixes and improvements to bootstrap.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.in: Copy latest bootstrap script from
+	https://github.com/gvvaughan/bootstrap.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: unpack the correct luarocks tarball name.
+	* travis.yml.in (install): Use the correct tarball name for
+	github luarocks releases.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: fetch github releases of luarocks.
+	luarocks.org has intermittent downtime, which makes slingshot
+	using github projects fail CI checks. Use the github releases
+	of luarocks for Travis instead, which has much better uptime
+	ratios.
+	* .travis.yml (env): Add LUAROCKS_RELEASE.
+	(install): Fetch luarocks tarball from github.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: don't overwrite user local-checks-to-skip setting.
+	* travis.yml.in (script): Append to local-checks-to-skip if that
+	variable is already set in sanity-cfg.mk.
+
+2014-11-05  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
+
+	bootstrap: sync with upstream.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.in: Sync with upstream.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+
+2014-10-25  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
+
+	bootstrap: sync with upstream.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.in: Fetch latest upstream.
+	* build-aux/boostrap.slingshot (func_require_slingshot_module):
+	Add slingshot_path argument to git submodule init invocation.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+	From Pádraig Brady
+
+2014-10-19  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
+
+	bootstrap: sync with upstream.
+	* build-aux/bootstrap.in (func_require_gnulib_submodule): Add
+	gnulib_path argument to prevent updating all submodules.
+	* build-aux/boostrap.slingshot (func_require_slingshot_submodule):
+	Likewise for slingshot submodule updates.
+	* bootstrap: Regenerate.
+	* NEWS: Update.
+	Reported by Reuben Thomas
+
+2014-10-09  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
+
+	travis: quote colons in yaml.
+	* travis.yml.in (script): Escape : meta-character with quotes.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: run sanity checks during CI.
+	* travis.yml.in (script): Run sanity checks on CI server.
+
+	mkrockspecs: fix unterminated string.
+	* src/mkrockspecs.in (default_build): Add missing quote.
+
+	mkrockspecs: set luaexecdir at install-time.
+	* src/mkrockspecs.in (default_build): Set luaexecdir at install
+	time.
+	* NEWS: Update.
+
+2014-09-25  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
+
+	specl: pass useful directories in SPECL_ENV.
+	* Makefile.am (SPECL_ENV): Initialise to empty.
+	* build-aux/specl.mk (SPECL_ENV): Add various useful directories.
+	(specl-check-local): Simplify accordingly.
+	* NEWS: Update.
+
+2014-08-17  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
+
+	travis: update to latest luarocks 2.2.0 release.
+	* travis.yml.in (LUAROCKS_BASE): Set to luarocks-2.2.0.
+	(install): Use it.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+
+	travis: support slack.com notifications.
+	* m4/slingshot.m4 (SS_CONFIG_TRAVIS): If there is a .slackid
+	file, use it to append a slack notification to .travis.yml.
+	* .slackid: New file.
+	* .travis.yml: Regenerate.
+	* NEWS: Update.
+
+2014-08-03  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
+
+	m4: sync ax_lua.m4 with upstream.
+	* m4/ax_lua.m4: Sync with upstream.
+
+2014-08-02  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
+
+	m4: *really* fix one argument AX_PROG_LUA invocation.
+	* m4/ax_lua.m4 (_AX_LUA_CHK_VER): If version pattern match fails
+	return nil, to trigger `math.huge` toobig comparison.
+
+	m4: fix one argument AX_PROG_LUA invocation.
+	* m4/ax_lua.m4 (_AX_LUA_CHK_VER): If toobig parameter is not
+	passed, default to `math.huge`.
+
 2014-07-31  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@gnu.org>
 
+	maint: regenerate merge-sections.
+	* build-aux/merge-sections: Regenerate.
+
+	maint: post-release administrivia.
+	* NEWS: Add header line for next release.
+	* .prev-version: Record previous version.
+	* configure.ac (AC_INIT): Bump version number to 8.
+	* local.mk (old_NEWS_hash): Auto-update.
+
 	Release version 7
 	* NEWS: Record release date.
 
diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index d707341..ce58fd8 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@
 LUA_PATH  ?= ;
 LUA_CPATH ?= ;
 
+SPECL_ENV =
+
 
 ## ---------- ##
 ## Bootstrap. ##
@@ -50,8 +52,10 @@ check_local		=
 dist_bin_SCRIPTS	=
 dist_lua_DATA		=
 doc_DATA		=
-install_exec_hooks	=
+install_exec_hooks	= remove-luaexec-lafiles
+uninstall_hooks		= uninstall-luaexec-modules
 lib_LTLIBRARIES		=
+luaexec_LTLIBRARIES	=
 man_MANS		=
 save_release_files	=
 
@@ -71,3 +75,30 @@ check-local: $(check_local)
 ## ------------- ##
 
 install-exec-hook: $(install_exec_hooks)
+
+# Neither Lua itself, nor LuaRocks can use .la files, and LuaRocks
+# actually moves such files aside anyway, so we just remove them from
+# the installation directory.
+remove-luaexec-lafiles:
+	@for la in $(luaexec_LTLIBRARIES); do	\
+	  f=`echo "$$la" |sed 's|^.*/||'`;	\
+	  echo rm -f $(luaexecdir)/$$f;		\
+	  rm -f $(luaexecdir)/$$f;		\
+	done
+
+
+## --------------- ##
+## Uninstallation. ##
+## --------------- ##
+
+uninstall-hook: $(uninstall_hooks)
+
+# We removed the .la files from luaexecdir, so the standard uninstall,
+# with libtool --mode=uninstall, can't find everything anymore.
+uninstall-luaexec-modules:
+	@for la in $(luaexec_LTLIBRARIES); do	\
+	  base=`echo "$$la"			\
+		|sed 's|^.*/\(.*\)\.la|\1|'`;	\
+	  echo rm -f $(luaexecdir)/$$base.so;	\
+	  rm -f $(luaexecdir)/$$base.so;	\
+	done
diff --git a/Makefile.in b/Makefile.in
index a86d641..47838f8 100644
--- a/Makefile.in
+++ b/Makefile.in
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ DIST_COMMON = $(srcdir)/local.mk $(srcdir)/src/src.mk \
 	$(srcdir)/build-aux/rockspecs.mk INSTALL NEWS README AUTHORS \
 	ChangeLog $(srcdir)/Makefile.in $(srcdir)/Makefile.am \
 	$(top_srcdir)/configure $(am__configure_deps) \
-	$(srcdir)/travis.yml.in $(top_srcdir)/src/merge-sections.in \
+	$(top_srcdir)/src/merge-sections.in \
 	$(top_srcdir)/src/mkrockspecs.in $(dist_bin_SCRIPTS) \
 	$(dist_lua_DATA) COPYING build-aux/install-sh \
 	build-aux/missing $(top_srcdir)/build-aux/install-sh \
@@ -227,14 +227,13 @@ DIST_COMMON = $(srcdir)/local.mk $(srcdir)/src/src.mk \
 subdir = .
 ACLOCAL_M4 = $(top_srcdir)/aclocal.m4
 am__aclocal_m4_deps = $(top_srcdir)/m4/ax_lua.m4 \
-	$(top_srcdir)/m4/slingshot.m4 $(top_srcdir)/configure.ac
+	$(top_srcdir)/configure.ac
 am__configure_deps = $(am__aclocal_m4_deps) $(CONFIGURE_DEPENDENCIES) \
 	$(ACLOCAL_M4)
 am__CONFIG_DISTCLEAN_FILES = config.status config.cache config.log \
  configure.lineno config.status.lineno
 mkinstalldirs = $(install_sh) -d
-CONFIG_CLEAN_FILES = .travis.yml build-aux/merge-sections \
-	build-aux/mkrockspecs
+CONFIG_CLEAN_FILES = build-aux/merge-sections build-aux/mkrockspecs
 CONFIG_CLEAN_VPATH_FILES =
 am__vpath_adj_setup = srcdirstrip=`echo "$(srcdir)" | sed 's|.|.|g'`;
 am__vpath_adj = case $$p in \
@@ -263,10 +262,11 @@ am__uninstall_files_from_dir = { \
     || { echo " ( cd '$$dir' && rm -f" $$files ")"; \
          $(am__cd) "$$dir" && rm -f $$files; }; \
   }
-am__installdirs = "$(DESTDIR)$(libdir)" "$(DESTDIR)$(bindir)" \
-	"$(DESTDIR)$(bindir)" "$(DESTDIR)$(man1dir)" \
-	"$(DESTDIR)$(luadir)" "$(DESTDIR)$(docdir)"
-LTLIBRARIES = $(lib_LTLIBRARIES)
+am__installdirs = "$(DESTDIR)$(libdir)" "$(DESTDIR)$(luaexecdir)" \
+	"$(DESTDIR)$(bindir)" "$(DESTDIR)$(bindir)" \
+	"$(DESTDIR)$(man1dir)" "$(DESTDIR)$(luadir)" \
+	"$(DESTDIR)$(docdir)"
+LTLIBRARIES = $(lib_LTLIBRARIES) $(luaexec_LTLIBRARIES)
 SCRIPTS = $(bin_SCRIPTS) $(dist_bin_SCRIPTS)
 AM_V_P = $(am__v_P_@AM_V@)
 am__v_P_ = $(am__v_P_@AM_DEFAULT_V@)
@@ -322,7 +322,6 @@ ECHO_C = @ECHO_C@
 ECHO_N = @ECHO_N@
 ECHO_T = @ECHO_T@
 EGREP = @EGREP@
-EXTRA_ROCKS = @EXTRA_ROCKS@
 GREP = @GREP@
 HELP2MAN = @HELP2MAN@
 INSTALL = @INSTALL@
@@ -398,15 +397,19 @@ target_alias = @target_alias@
 top_build_prefix = @top_build_prefix@
 top_builddir = @top_builddir@
 top_srcdir = @top_srcdir@
+SPECL_ENV = LUA='$(LUA)' abs_top_builddir='$(abs_top_builddir)' \
+	abs_top_srcdir='$(abs_top_srcdir)' \
+	top_builddir='$(top_builddir)' top_srcdir='$(top_srcdir)' \
+	$(NOTHING_ELSE)
 ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I m4
 AM_CPPFLAGS = $(LUA_INCLUDE)
 EXTRA_DIST = build-aux/merge-sections build-aux/mkrockspecs \
-	docs/mkrockspecs.1 $(NOTHING_ELSE) $(specl_SPECS) \
+	doc/mkrockspecs.1 $(NOTHING_ELSE) $(specl_SPECS) \
 	$(NOTHING_ELSE) build-aux/bootstrap.in \
 	build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot $(mkrockspecs) \
 	$(package_rockspec) $(rockspec_conf) $(NOTHING_ELSE)
 EXTRA_LTLIBRARIES = 
-CLEANFILES = docs/mkrockspecs.1 $(NOTHING_ELSE)
+CLEANFILES = doc/mkrockspecs.1 $(NOTHING_ELSE)
 DISTCLEANFILES = $(luarocks_config) $(NOTHING_ELSE)
 MAINTAINERCLEANFILES = 
 NOTHING_ELSE = 
@@ -415,11 +418,13 @@ check_local = specl-check-local
 dist_bin_SCRIPTS = 
 dist_lua_DATA = 
 doc_DATA = 
-install_exec_hooks = 
+install_exec_hooks = remove-luaexec-lafiles
+uninstall_hooks = uninstall-luaexec-modules
 lib_LTLIBRARIES = 
-man_MANS = docs/mkrockspecs.1
+luaexec_LTLIBRARIES = 
+man_MANS = doc/mkrockspecs.1
 save_release_files = $(scm_rockspec)
-old_NEWS_hash = 4a4a721668a1516c046d865c7b425586
+old_NEWS_hash = d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e
 update_copyright_env = \
 	UPDATE_COPYRIGHT_HOLDER='(Free Software Foundation, Inc.|Gary V. Vaughan|Reuben Thomas)' \
 	UPDATE_COPYRIGHT_USE_INTERVALS=1 \
@@ -489,8 +494,6 @@ $(top_srcdir)/configure:  $(am__configure_deps)
 $(ACLOCAL_M4):  $(am__aclocal_m4_deps)
 	$(am__cd) $(srcdir) && $(ACLOCAL) $(ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS)
 $(am__aclocal_m4_deps):
-.travis.yml: $(top_builddir)/config.status $(srcdir)/travis.yml.in
-	cd $(top_builddir) && $(SHELL) ./config.status $@
 build-aux/merge-sections: $(top_builddir)/config.status $(top_srcdir)/src/merge-sections.in
 	cd $(top_builddir) && $(SHELL) ./config.status $@
 build-aux/mkrockspecs: $(top_builddir)/config.status $(top_srcdir)/src/mkrockspecs.in
@@ -530,6 +533,41 @@ clean-libLTLIBRARIES:
 	  echo rm -f $${locs}; \
 	  rm -f $${locs}; \
 	}
+
+install-luaexecLTLIBRARIES: $(luaexec_LTLIBRARIES)
+	@$(NORMAL_INSTALL)
+	@list='$(luaexec_LTLIBRARIES)'; test -n "$(luaexecdir)" || list=; \
+	list2=; for p in $$list; do \
+	  if test -f $$p; then \
+	    list2="$$list2 $$p"; \
+	  else :; fi; \
+	done; \
+	test -z "$$list2" || { \
+	  echo " $(MKDIR_P) '$(DESTDIR)$(luaexecdir)'"; \
+	  $(MKDIR_P) "$(DESTDIR)$(luaexecdir)" || exit 1; \
+	  echo " $(INSTALL) $(INSTALL_STRIP_FLAG) $$list '$(DESTDIR)$(luaexecdir)'"; \
+	  $(INSTALL) $(INSTALL_STRIP_FLAG) $$list "$(DESTDIR)$(luaexecdir)"; \
+	}
+
+uninstall-luaexecLTLIBRARIES:
+	@$(NORMAL_UNINSTALL)
+	@list='$(luaexec_LTLIBRARIES)'; test -n "$(luaexecdir)" || list=; \
+	for p in $$list; do \
+	  $(am__strip_dir) \
+	  echo " rm -f '$(DESTDIR)$(luaexecdir)/$$f'"; \
+	  rm -f "$(DESTDIR)$(luaexecdir)/$$f"; \
+	done
+
+clean-luaexecLTLIBRARIES:
+	-test -z "$(luaexec_LTLIBRARIES)" || rm -f $(luaexec_LTLIBRARIES)
+	@list='$(luaexec_LTLIBRARIES)'; \
+	locs=`for p in $$list; do echo $$p; done | \
+	      sed 's|^[^/]*$$|.|; s|/[^/]*$$||; s|$$|/so_locations|' | \
+	      sort -u`; \
+	test -z "$$locs" || { \
+	  echo rm -f $${locs}; \
+	  rm -f $${locs}; \
+	}
 install-binSCRIPTS: $(bin_SCRIPTS)
 	@$(NORMAL_INSTALL)
 	@list='$(bin_SCRIPTS)'; test -n "$(bindir)" || list=; \
@@ -860,7 +898,7 @@ check-am: all-am
 check: check-am
 all-am: Makefile $(LTLIBRARIES) $(SCRIPTS) $(MANS) $(DATA)
 installdirs:
-	for dir in "$(DESTDIR)$(libdir)" "$(DESTDIR)$(bindir)" "$(DESTDIR)$(bindir)" "$(DESTDIR)$(man1dir)" "$(DESTDIR)$(luadir)" "$(DESTDIR)$(docdir)"; do \
+	for dir in "$(DESTDIR)$(libdir)" "$(DESTDIR)$(luaexecdir)" "$(DESTDIR)$(bindir)" "$(DESTDIR)$(bindir)" "$(DESTDIR)$(man1dir)" "$(DESTDIR)$(luadir)" "$(DESTDIR)$(docdir)"; do \
 	  test -z "$$dir" || $(MKDIR_P) "$$dir"; \
 	done
 install: install-am
@@ -898,7 +936,8 @@ maintainer-clean-generic:
 	-test -z "$(MAINTAINERCLEANFILES)" || rm -f $(MAINTAINERCLEANFILES)
 clean: clean-am
 
-clean-am: clean-generic clean-libLTLIBRARIES mostlyclean-am
+clean-am: clean-generic clean-libLTLIBRARIES clean-luaexecLTLIBRARIES \
+	mostlyclean-am
 
 distclean: distclean-am
 	-rm -f $(am__CONFIG_DISTCLEAN_FILES)
@@ -924,7 +963,7 @@ install-dvi: install-dvi-am
 install-dvi-am:
 
 install-exec-am: install-binSCRIPTS install-dist_binSCRIPTS \
-	install-libLTLIBRARIES
+	install-libLTLIBRARIES install-luaexecLTLIBRARIES
 	@$(NORMAL_INSTALL)
 	$(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) install-exec-hook
 install-html: install-html-am
@@ -967,37 +1006,41 @@ ps-am:
 
 uninstall-am: uninstall-binSCRIPTS uninstall-dist_binSCRIPTS \
 	uninstall-dist_luaDATA uninstall-docDATA \
-	uninstall-libLTLIBRARIES uninstall-man
-
+	uninstall-libLTLIBRARIES uninstall-luaexecLTLIBRARIES \
+	uninstall-man
+	@$(NORMAL_INSTALL)
+	$(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) uninstall-hook
 uninstall-man: uninstall-man1
 
-.MAKE: check-am install-am install-exec-am install-strip
+.MAKE: check-am install-am install-exec-am install-strip uninstall-am
 
 .PHONY: all all-am am--refresh check check-am check-local clean \
-	clean-generic clean-libLTLIBRARIES cscopelist-am ctags-am dist \
-	dist-all dist-bzip2 dist-gzip dist-lzip dist-shar dist-tarZ \
-	dist-xz dist-zip distcheck distclean distclean-generic \
-	distcleancheck distdir distuninstallcheck dvi dvi-am html \
-	html-am info info-am install install-am install-binSCRIPTS \
-	install-data install-data-am install-dist_binSCRIPTS \
-	install-dist_luaDATA install-docDATA install-dvi \
-	install-dvi-am install-exec install-exec-am install-exec-hook \
-	install-html install-html-am install-info install-info-am \
-	install-libLTLIBRARIES install-man install-man1 install-pdf \
-	install-pdf-am install-ps install-ps-am install-strip \
-	installcheck installcheck-am installdirs maintainer-clean \
-	maintainer-clean-generic mostlyclean mostlyclean-generic pdf \
-	pdf-am ps ps-am tags-am uninstall uninstall-am \
-	uninstall-binSCRIPTS uninstall-dist_binSCRIPTS \
-	uninstall-dist_luaDATA uninstall-docDATA \
-	uninstall-libLTLIBRARIES uninstall-man uninstall-man1
+	clean-generic clean-libLTLIBRARIES clean-luaexecLTLIBRARIES \
+	cscopelist-am ctags-am dist dist-all dist-bzip2 dist-gzip \
+	dist-lzip dist-shar dist-tarZ dist-xz dist-zip distcheck \
+	distclean distclean-generic distcleancheck distdir \
+	distuninstallcheck dvi dvi-am html html-am info info-am \
+	install install-am install-binSCRIPTS install-data \
+	install-data-am install-dist_binSCRIPTS install-dist_luaDATA \
+	install-docDATA install-dvi install-dvi-am install-exec \
+	install-exec-am install-exec-hook install-html install-html-am \
+	install-info install-info-am install-libLTLIBRARIES \
+	install-luaexecLTLIBRARIES install-man install-man1 \
+	install-pdf install-pdf-am install-ps install-ps-am \
+	install-strip installcheck installcheck-am installdirs \
+	maintainer-clean maintainer-clean-generic mostlyclean \
+	mostlyclean-generic pdf pdf-am ps ps-am tags-am uninstall \
+	uninstall-am uninstall-binSCRIPTS uninstall-dist_binSCRIPTS \
+	uninstall-dist_luaDATA uninstall-docDATA uninstall-hook \
+	uninstall-libLTLIBRARIES uninstall-luaexecLTLIBRARIES \
+	uninstall-man uninstall-man1
 
 
 LUA_PATH  ?= ;
 LUA_CPATH ?= ;
 
-docs/mkrockspecs.1: build-aux/mkrockspecs Makefile
-	@test -d docs || mkdir docs
+doc/mkrockspecs.1: build-aux/mkrockspecs Makefile
+	@test -d doc || mkdir doc
 	$(AM_V_GEN)if ( touch $@.w && rm -f $@.w; ) >/dev/null 2>&1; \
 	then						\
 	  builddir='$(builddir)'			\
@@ -1008,7 +1051,7 @@ docs/mkrockspecs.1: build-aux/mkrockspecs Makefile
 	    build-aux/mkrockspecs;			\
 	fi
 specl-check-local: $(specl_SPECS)
-	$(SPECL_ENV) LUA=$(LUA) $(SPECL) $(SPECL_OPTS) $(specl_SPECS)
+	$(SPECL_ENV) $(SPECL) $(SPECL_OPTS) $(specl_SPECS)
 
 $(luarocks_config): Makefile.am
 	@test -d build-aux || mkdir build-aux
@@ -1046,6 +1089,28 @@ check-local: $(check_local)
 
 install-exec-hook: $(install_exec_hooks)
 
+# Neither Lua itself, nor LuaRocks can use .la files, and LuaRocks
+# actually moves such files aside anyway, so we just remove them from
+# the installation directory.
+remove-luaexec-lafiles:
+	@for la in $(luaexec_LTLIBRARIES); do	\
+	  f=`echo "$$la" |sed 's|^.*/||'`;	\
+	  echo rm -f $(luaexecdir)/$$f;		\
+	  rm -f $(luaexecdir)/$$f;		\
+	done
+
+uninstall-hook: $(uninstall_hooks)
+
+# We removed the .la files from luaexecdir, so the standard uninstall,
+# with libtool --mode=uninstall, can't find everything anymore.
+uninstall-luaexec-modules:
+	@for la in $(luaexec_LTLIBRARIES); do	\
+	  base=`echo "$$la"			\
+		|sed 's|^.*/\(.*\)\.la|\1|'`;	\
+	  echo rm -f $(luaexecdir)/$$base.so;	\
+	  rm -f $(luaexecdir)/$$base.so;	\
+	done
+
 # Tell versions [3.59,3.63) of GNU make to not export all variables.
 # Otherwise a system limit (for SysV at least) may be exceeded.
 .NOEXPORT:
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 0e61464..52d186d 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,8 +1,90 @@
-Slingshot NEWS - User visible changes.
+# Slingshot NEWS - User visible changes.
 
-* Noteworthy changes in release 7 (2014-07-31) [stable]
+## Noteworthy changes in release 8.0.0 (2014-12-31) [stable]
 
-** New Features:
+### New Features:
+
+  - Libtool built Lua modules should be appended to luaexec_LTLIBRARIES,
+    where non LuaRocks users will receive them in the correct directory
+    (likely already in their LUA_CPATH) after `sudo make install`.
+
+  - Slingshot now supports the slack.com Travis Integration.  Add
+    a .slackid file to the root of your project, containing your slack
+    token on a single line -- a notification section containing that
+    id will be appended to your `.travis.yml` at configure time.
+
+  - Various build related directories are added to SPECL_ENV by default,
+    so that package.path and package.cpath settings can be set in your
+    spec_helper.lua to enforce loading from the build tree instead of
+    accidentally falling back to the system module paths -- especially
+    during the VPATH `make check` performed during `make distcheck`. You
+    might want to write something like this in `spec_helper.lua`:
+
+    ```lua
+        local std = require "specl.std"
+
+        local builddir = os.getenv "top_builddir" or "."
+        local srcdir = os.getenv "top_srcdir" or "."
+
+        package.path = std.package.normalize (
+                         top_builddir .. "/lib/mymodule/?.lua",
+                         top_srcdir .. "/lib/mymodule/?.lua",
+                         package.path)
+
+        mymodule = require "mymodule"
+    ```
+
+    This ensures that, no matter what LuaRocks does to the package paths,
+    nor whether you run `specl` by hand with auto-discovery, or via the
+    `make check` or `make distcheck` rules... by the time you require
+    your module from the development tree, the package path has the right
+    directories at the front.
+
+  - Unused libtool .la files for Lua modules are no longer installed.
+
+  - Update to latest upstream `ax_lua.m4`.
+
+  - Update to latest upstream `bootstrap`.
+
+  - Travis CI overhaul: Uses latest LuaRocks 2.2.0 with each of Lua
+    5.3.0(rc1), 5.2.3, 5.1.5 and luajit-2.0.3, only building the Lua
+    version needed in each run.  We also run `make syntax-check` on the
+    CI server after successful tests.
+
+  - Instead of overwriting .travis.yml unconditionally, show a warning
+    explaining how to update it when it changes, like bootstrap.
+
+  - Markdown format NEWS and announcements.
+
+### Incompatible Changes:
+
+  - SPECL_ENV is now set (to empty) by default, and should be augmented
+    with += in local.mk.
+
+  - SS_CONFIG_TRAVIS is no longer supported.  Any additional travis rocks
+    you were passing there should now be listed in a travis_extra_rocks
+    variable in `bootstrap.conf` instead.
+
+### Bug Fixes:
+
+  - We no longer assume autotooled installations will put modules in
+    --libdir (although that will continue to work), but also set
+    luaexecdir at install-time for `ax_lua.m4` compatibility.
+
+  - Version comparison in `build-aux/do-release-commit-and-tag` now
+    works correctly.
+
+  - bootstrap now updates only gnulib and slingshot git submodules as
+    expected.
+
+  - Slingshot bootstrap really does perform an automatic out of date
+    check of client bootstrap against latest slingshot submodule
+    bootstrap script now - after updating to this version!
+
+
+## Noteworthy changes in release 7 (2014-07-31) [stable]
+
+### New Features:
 
   - Slingshot `make release` now requires a LuaRocks binary that supports
     the upload command (such as the 2.2.0 beta release) and uses that to
@@ -11,7 +93,9 @@ Slingshot NEWS - User visible changes.
     upload fails due to a missing api-key, then make sure you have one
     at rocks.moonscript.org/settings and call make like this:
 
+    ```
         make upload API_KEY=0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDE
+    ```
 
   - `mkrockspecs` accepts a new `--branch` option for generating a
     git/scm rockspec that pulls that branch instead of master.
@@ -29,7 +113,9 @@ Slingshot NEWS - User visible changes.
     rockspec version checks can be short-circuited by setting an APPVAR
     in bootstrap's environment, e.g:
 
+    ```bash
         LDOC=`pwd`/luarocks/bin/ldoc ./bootstrap
+    ```
 
   - Slingshot bootstrap accepts a new `--luarocks-tree` option to
     check a particular tree for prerequisite rocks.
@@ -40,7 +126,7 @@ Slingshot NEWS - User visible changes.
   - Remove m4/ax_compare_version.m4 and dependencies, resulting in a
     slightly faster and smaller configure.
 
-** Bugs fixed:
+### Bugs fixed:
 
   - `bootstrap` now has `slingshot_copy` merged in correctly.
 
@@ -48,9 +134,9 @@ Slingshot NEWS - User visible changes.
     `foo/bar/init.lua` pattern.
 
 
-* Noteworthy changes in release 6 (2014-01-04) [stable]
+## Noteworthy changes in release 6 (2014-01-04) [stable]
 
-** New Features:
+### New Features:
 
   - A manually entered list of modules in rockspec.conf now
     creates "builtin" autoconfless builds in the main rockspec
@@ -61,15 +147,16 @@ Slingshot NEWS - User visible changes.
     than in an installed subtree, but unit tests need access to the
     module subtree which is only visible in the build directory).
 
-** Incompatible Changes:
+### Incompatible Changes:
 
   - `bootstrap.slingshot` is now automatically merged into the
     `bootstrap` script, so you shouldn't copy it into your project
     tree anymore, or add the glue to run it to your `bootstrap.conf`.
 
-* Noteworthy changes in release 5 (2013-12-08) [stable]
 
-** New Features:
+## Noteworthy changes in release 5 (2013-12-08) [stable]
+
+### New Features:
 
   - The announcement message is formatted for easier pasting into
     github release notes.
@@ -78,7 +165,7 @@ Slingshot NEWS - User visible changes.
   - Travis builds will now use the latest upstream luarocks 2.1.1
     release.
 
-** Bugs fixed:
+### Bugs fixed:
 
   - Specifying additional SPECL_OPTS in local.mk now works properly.
   - Announcement message shows luarocks install command correctly.
@@ -88,16 +175,16 @@ Slingshot NEWS - User visible changes.
   - Fixed a typo in maint.mk no-submodule-changes rule.
 
 
-* Noteworthy changes in release 4 (2013-08-29) [stable]
+## Noteworthy changes in release 4 (2013-08-29) [stable]
 
-** New Features:
+### New Features:
 
   - mkrockspecs uses luaposix to search the module root tree for lua
     sources if it is available, which is a lot faster than spawning
     a shell to list the contents of each subdirectory, and reading the
     results back over a pipe.
 
-** Bugs Fixed:
+### Bugs Fixed:
 
   - Submodules pulled to the release branch are removed before unpacking
     the release tarball.
@@ -109,9 +196,9 @@ Slingshot NEWS - User visible changes.
   - Fixed many fine typos.
 
 
-* Noteworthy changes in release 3 (2013-05-19) [stable]
+## Noteworthy changes in release 3 (2013-05-19) [stable]
 
-** New Features:
+### New Features:
 
   - Support Specl automation with `include build-aux/specl.mk`
 
@@ -125,12 +212,14 @@ Slingshot NEWS - User visible changes.
     Slingshot mkrockspec invocations setting `mkrockspecs_args`
     appropriately in your `local.mk`:
 
+    ```
       mkrockspecs_args = --module-dir lib
+    ```
 
   - Works with lyaml 4 and newer, which now returns all documents
     in the YAML stream as a table.
 
-** Bugs Fixed:
+### Bugs Fixed:
 
   - Don't forget to distribute .autom4te.cfg file.
 
@@ -138,36 +227,44 @@ Slingshot NEWS - User visible changes.
     perform a segregated 5.1 install with the system luarocks to
     avoid incompatibilities on Travis CI.
 
-** Incompatible Changes:
+### Incompatible Changes:
 
   - `mail` wrapper removed.  Rockspec announcement sent with a link
     to the rockspec rather than as an attachment.
 
-* Noteworthy changes in release 2 (2013-04-28) [beta]
 
-** New Features:
+## Noteworthy changes in release 2 (2013-04-28) [beta]
+
+### New Features:
 
   - No longer depend on `woger`.
+
   - New `mail` wrapper script to provide a POSIX mail API wrapped
     around mutt.  Currently Mac OS X specific (which is the main
     system that doesn't ship a POSIX mail compatible command).
+
   - Split local and origin rules to support, eg:
+
+    ```
       $ make beta
-      ...manually check local trees...
+        # manually check local trees...
       $ make push
-      ...manually check github zipball and released rockspec files...
-      ...maunally edit ~/announce-<package>-<version>...
+        # manually check github zipball and released rockspec files...
+        # manually edit ~/announce-<package>-<version>...
       $ make mail
+   ```
+
   - Port of gnulib project sanity checks hooked into release
     rules by `include build-aux/sanity.mk`.
 
-** Bugs Fixed:
+### Bugs Fixed:
 
   - Newly created release branch is now branched from the v1 tag rather
     than the "Post-release administrivia" commit.
   - Include maintainer support files in release, so that Travis CI has
     everything it needs to work on the release branch too.
 
-* Noteworthy changes in release 1 (2013-04-28) [beta]
 
-** Initial proof-of concept for shared Lua RockSpec framework.
+## Noteworthy changes in release 1 (2013-04-28) [beta]
+
+  - Initial proof-of concept for shared Lua RockSpec framework.
diff --git a/README b/README
index 16042c8..71f687f 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -35,12 +35,8 @@ slingshot managed files nominated into your project tree.
    quite a lot larger than the GNU implementation.
 
    Note that the [Slingshot][] `bootstrap` script has extra functions
-   compared to the Libtool `bootstrap` on which it is based, and the
-   two are **not** interchangable!
-
- * `docs/bootstrap.texi`:
-
-   texinfo documentation for `bootstrap`.
+   compared to the [standard `bootstrap`](https://github.com/gvvaughan/bootstrap)
+   on which it is based, and the two are **not** interchangable!
 
 Alternatively, pick and choose whichever of the following files you
 want to make use of into your project, and either list them in a
@@ -121,7 +117,7 @@ about automatically keeping them in sync with future releases):
    `~/.autom4te.cfg` to turn off the cache globally.
 
 In addition to the files above, slingshot expects you to maintain your
-release notes in a GNU format NEWS file, such as the one used by
+release notes in a Markdown format NEWS file, such as the one used by
 slingshot itself, and a revision controlled `.prev-version` file with
 the previous release version number.  `release.mk` will maintain these
 files for you once you have them in place.
diff --git a/aclocal.m4 b/aclocal.m4
index 277766d..267246d 100644
--- a/aclocal.m4
+++ b/aclocal.m4
@@ -736,4 +736,3 @@ AC_SUBST([am__untar])
 ]) # _AM_PROG_TAR
 
 m4_include([m4/ax_lua.m4])
-m4_include([m4/slingshot.m4])
diff --git a/bootstrap b/bootstrap
index 575ce48..90a6a3c 100755
--- a/bootstrap
+++ b/bootstrap
@@ -820,30 +820,31 @@ slingshot_require_slingshot_submodule ()
     else
       $require_slingshot_dotgitmodules
 
-      if test -f .gitmodules && test -f "slingshot/src/mkrockspecs.in"
-      then
-        : All present and correct.
-
-      else
+      if test -f .gitmodules; then
         $require_slingshot_path
         $require_slingshot_url
 
-        trap slingshot_cleanup 1 2 13 15
+        if test -f "slingshot/src/mkrockspecs.in"; then
+          : All present and correct.
 
-        shallow=
-        $GIT clone -h 2>&1 |func_grep_q -- --depth \
-            && shallow='--depth 365'
+        else
+          trap slingshot_cleanup 1 2 13 15
 
-        func_show_eval "$GIT clone $shallow '$slingshot_url' '$slingshot_path'" \
-          slingshot_cleanup
+          shallow=
+          $GIT clone -h 2>&1 |func_grep_q -- --depth \
+              && shallow='--depth 365'
 
-        # FIXME: Solaris /bin/sh will try to execute '-' if any of
-        #        these signals are caught after this.
-        trap - 1 2 13 15
+          func_show_eval "$GIT clone $shallow '$slingshot_url' '$slingshot_path'" \
+            slingshot_cleanup
+
+          # FIXME: Solaris /bin/sh will try to execute '-' if any of
+          #        these signals are caught after this.
+          trap - 1 2 13 15
+        fi
 
         # Make sure we've checked out the correct revision of slingshot.
-        func_show_eval "$GIT submodule init" \
-          && func_show_eval "$GIT submodule update" \
+        func_show_eval "$GIT submodule init -- $slingshot_path" \
+          && func_show_eval "$GIT submodule update -- $slingshot_path" \
           || func_fatal_error "Unable to update slingshot submodule."
       fi
     fi
@@ -852,6 +853,49 @@ slingshot_require_slingshot_submodule ()
 }
 
 
+# require_bootstrap_uptodate
+# --------------------------
+# Complain if the version of bootstrap in the build-aux directory differs
+# from the one we are running.
+require_bootstrap_uptodate=slingshot_require_bootstrap_uptodate
+slingshot_require_bootstrap_uptodate ()
+{
+    $debug_cmd
+
+    $require_slingshot_submodule
+
+    _G_slingshot_bootstrap=slingshot/bootstrap
+
+    rm -f $progname.new
+
+    if test -f "$_G_slingshot_bootstrap"; then
+      if func_cmp_s "$progpath" "$_G_slingshot_bootstrap"; then
+	func_verbose "bootstrap script up to date"
+      else
+        cp -f $_G_slingshot_bootstrap $progname.new
+        func_warning upgrade "\
+An updated slingshot bootstrap script is ready for you in
+'$progname.new'.  After you've verified that you want the
+changes, you can update with:
+    mv -f $progname.new $progname
+    ./$progname
+
+Or you can disable this check permanently by adding the
+following to 'bootstrap.conf':
+    require_bootstrap_uptodate=:"
+      fi
+    else
+      func_warning upgrade "\
+Your slingshot submodule appears to be damagedi, so I can't tell
+whether your bootstrap has gone out of sync.  Please check for
+and undo any local changes, or revert to the slingshot revision
+you were using previously, and rerun this script."
+    fi
+
+    require_bootstrap_uptodate=:
+}
+
+
 # slingshot_cleanup
 # -----------------
 # Recursively delete everything at $slingshot_path.
@@ -2424,7 +2468,7 @@ test -z "$progpath" && . `echo "$0" |${SED-sed} 's|[^/]*$||'`/funclib.sh
 test extract-trace = "$progname" && . `echo "$0" |${SED-sed} 's|[^/]*$||'`/options-parser
 
 # Set a version string.
-scriptversion=2014-01-04.01; # UTC
+scriptversion=2014-12-03.16; # UTC
 
 # 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
@@ -2569,6 +2613,69 @@ func_autoconf_configure ()
 }
 
 
+# func_tool_version_output CMD [FATAL-ERROR-MSG]
+# ----------------------------------------------
+# Attempt to run 'CMD --version', discarding errors.  The output can be
+# ignored by redirecting stdout, and this function used simply to test
+# whether the command exists and exits normally when passed a
+# '--version' argument.
+# When FATAL-ERROR-MSG is given, then this function will display the
+# message and exit if running 'CMD --version' returns a non-zero exit
+# status.
+func_tool_version_output ()
+{
+    $debug_cmd
+
+    _G_cmd=$1
+    _G_fatal_error_msg=$2
+
+    # Some tools, like 'git2cl' produce thousands of lines of output
+    # unless stdin is /dev/null - in that case we want to return
+    # successfully without saving all of that output.  Other tools,
+    # such as 'help2man' exit with a non-zero status when stdin comes
+    # from /dev/null, so we re-execute without /dev/null if that
+    # happens.  This means that occasionally, the output from both calls
+    # ends up in the result, but the alternative would be to discard the
+    # output from one call, and hope the other produces something useful.
+    { $_G_cmd --version </dev/null || $_G_cmd --version; } 2>/dev/null
+    _G_status=$?
+
+    test 0 -ne "$_G_status" && test -n "$_G_fatal_error_msg" \
+        && func_fatal_error "$_G_fatal_error_msg"
+
+    (exit $_G_status)
+}
+
+
+# func_tool_version_number CMD [FATAL-ERROR-MSG]
+# ----------------------------------------------
+# Pass arguments to func_tool_version_output, but set
+# $func_tool_version_number_result to the last dot delimited digit string
+# on the first line of output.
+func_tool_version_number ()
+{
+    $debug_cmd
+
+    _G_verout=`func_tool_version_output "$@"`
+    _G_status=$?
+
+    # A version number starts with a digit following a space on the first
+    # line of output from `--version`.
+    _G_verout=`echo "$_G_verout" |sed 1q`
+    if test -n "$_G_verout"; then
+      _G_vernum=`expr "$_G_verout" : '.* \([0-9][^ ]*\)'`
+    fi
+
+    if test -n "$_G_vernum"; then
+      printf '%s\n' "$_G_vernum"
+    else
+      printf '%s\n' "$_G_verout"
+    fi
+
+    (exit $_G_status)
+}
+
+
 # func_find_tool ENVVAR NAMES...
 # ------------------------------
 # Search for a required program.  Use the value of ENVVAR, if set,
@@ -2586,16 +2693,44 @@ func_find_tool ()
     if test -n "$_G_find_tool_res"; then
       _G_find_tool_error_prefix="\$$find_tool_envvar: "
     else
+      _G_find_tool_res=
+      _G_bestver=
       for _G_prog
       do
-        if func_tool_version_output $_G_prog >/dev/null; then
-          _G_find_tool_res=$_G_prog
-          break
-        fi
+        _G_find_tool_save_IFS=$IFS
+	IFS=:
+	for _G_dir in $PATH; do
+	  IFS=$_G_find_tool_save_IFS
+	  _G_progpath=$_G_dir/$_G_prog
+          test -r "$_G_progpath" && {
+            _G_curver=`func_tool_version_number $_G_progpath`
+	    case $_G_bestver,$_G_curver in
+	    ,)
+	      # first non--version responsive prog sticks!
+              test -n "$_G_progpath" || _G_find_tool_res=$_G_progpath
+              ;;
+            ,*)
+	      # first --version responsive prog beats non--version responsive!
+	      _G_find_tool_res=$_G_progpath
+	      _G_bestver=$_G_curver
+	      ;;
+	    *,*)
+	      # another --version responsive prog must be newer to beat previous one!
+	      test "x$_G_curver" = "x$_G_bestver" \
+		|| func_lt_ver "$_G_curver" "$_G_bestver" \
+		|| {
+		     _G_find_tool_res=$_G_progpath
+		     _G_bestver=$_G_curver
+	           }
+	      ;;
+	    esac
+          }
+	done
+	IFS=$_G_find_tool_save_IFS
       done
     fi
     if test -n "$_G_find_tool_res"; then
-      func_tool_version_output >/dev/null $_G_find_tool_res "\
+      func_tool_version_number >/dev/null $_G_find_tool_res "\
 ${_G_find_tool_error_prefix}Cannot run '$_G_find_tool_res --version'"
 
       # Make sure the result is exported to the environment for children
@@ -2610,39 +2745,6 @@ One of these is required:
 }
 
 
-# func_tool_version_output CMD [FATAL-ERROR-MSG]
-# ----------------------------------------------
-# Attempt to run 'CMD --version', discarding errors.  The output can be
-# ignored by redirecting stdout, and this function used simply to test
-# whether the command exists and exits normally when passed a
-# '--version' argument.
-# When FATAL-ERROR-MSG is given, then this function will display the
-# message and exit if running 'CMD --version' returns a non-zero exit
-# status.
-func_tool_version_output ()
-{
-    $debug_cmd
-
-    _G_cmd=$1
-    _G_fatal_error_msg=$2
-
-    # Some tools, like 'git2cl' produce thousands of lines of output
-    # unless stdin is /dev/null - in that case we want to return
-    # successfully without saving all of that output.  Other tools,
-    # such as 'help2man' exit with a non-zero status when stdin comes
-    # from /dev/null, so we re-execute without /dev/null if that
-    # happens.  This means that occasionally, the output from both calls
-    # ends up in the result, but the alternative would be to discard the
-    # output from one call, and hope the other produces something useful.
-    { $_G_cmd --version </dev/null || $_G_cmd --version; } 2>/dev/null
-    _G_status=$?
-
-    test 0 -ne "$_G_status" && test -n "$_G_fatal_error_msg" \
-        && func_fatal_error "$_G_fatal_error_msg"
-
-    (exit $_G_status)
-}
-
 
 ## -------------------- ##
 ## Resource management. ##
@@ -2908,7 +3010,7 @@ test extract-trace = "$progname" && func_main "$@"
 # End:
 
 # Set a version string for *this* script.
-scriptversion=2014-01-04.01; # UTC
+scriptversion=2014-11-04.13; # UTC
 
 
 ## ------------------- ##
@@ -3034,10 +3136,13 @@ func_reconfigure ()
 
     $require_automake_options
 
-    # Automake (without 'foreign' option) requires that README exists.
+    # Automake (without 'foreign' option) requires that NEWS & README exist.
     case " $automake_options " in
       " foreign ") ;;
-      *) func_ensure_README ;;
+      *)
+        func_ensure_NEWS
+        func_ensure_README
+        ;;
     esac
 
     # Ensure ChangeLog presence.
@@ -3336,6 +3441,7 @@ slingshot_copy_files ()
       $require_slingshot_submodule
 
       # Make sure we have the latest mkrockspecs
+      # (the rebootstrap rule in slingshot/GNUmakefile autoruns).
       make -C slingshot build-aux/mkrockspecs
 
       # Update in-tree links.
@@ -3367,6 +3473,65 @@ slingshot_ensure_changelog ()
 func_add_hook func_prep slingshot_ensure_changelog
 
 
+# slingshot_update_travis_yml
+# ---------------------------
+# When 'travis.yml.in' is listed in $slingshot_files, complain if
+# regenerating '.travis.yml' would change it.
+slingshot_update_travis_yml ()
+{
+    $debug_cmd
+
+    $require_git
+
+    _G_travis_yml_in=travis.yml.in
+    _G_travis_yml_out=.travis.yml
+
+    rm -f "$_G_travis_yml_out.new"
+
+    test true = "$GIT" || {
+      case " "`echo $slingshot_files`" " in
+      *" travis.yml.in "*)
+        # Remove trailing blanks so as not to trip sc_trailing_blank in syntax check
+        test -f "$_G_travis_yml_in" && {
+          $slingshot_require_travis_extra_rocks
+
+          eval `grep '^ *PACKAGE=' configure | sed 1q`
+          eval `grep '^ *VERSION=' configure | sed 1q`
+
+          cat "$_G_travis_yml_in" |
+          sed 's|  *$||' |
+          sed "s|@EXTRA_ROCKS@|`echo $travis_extra_rocks`|g" |
+          sed "s|@PACKAGE@|$PACKAGE|g" |
+          sed "s|@VERSION@|$VERSION|g"
+
+          if test -f .slackid; then
+            read slackid < .slackid
+            printf '%s\n' '' 'notifications:' "  slack: $slackid"
+          fi
+        } > "$_G_travis_yml_out.new"
+
+        if test -f "$_G_travis_yml_out"; then
+          if func_cmp_s "$_G_travis_yml_out" "$_G_travis_yml_out.new"; then
+	    func_verbose "$_G_travis_yml_out is up to date"
+            rm -f "$_G_travis_yml_out.new"
+          else
+            func_warning upgrade "\
+An updated $_G_travis_yml_out script is ready for you in
+'$_G_travis_yml_out.new'.  After you've verified that you want
+the changes, you can update with:
+    mv -f $_G_travis_yml_out.new $_G_travis_yml_out"
+          fi
+        else
+	  func_verbose "creating '$_G_travis_yml_out'"
+          mv -f "$_G_travis_yml_out.new" "$_G_travis_yml_out"
+        fi
+        ;;
+      esac
+    }
+}
+func_add_hook func_fini slingshot_update_travis_yml
+
+
 # slingshot_check_rockstree_path
 # ------------------------------
 # Show a warning at the end of bootstrap if --luarocks-tree was passed
@@ -3529,6 +3694,29 @@ EOT
 }
 
 
+# func_ensure_NEWS
+# ----------------
+# Without AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([foreign]), automake will not run to
+# completion with no NEWS file, even though NEWS.md or NEWS.txt
+# is often preferable.
+func_ensure_NEWS ()
+{
+    $debug_cmd
+
+    test -f NEWS || {
+      _G_NEWS=
+      for _G_news in NEWS.txt NEWS.md NEWS.rst; do
+        test -f "$_G_news" && break
+      done
+
+      test -f "$_G_news" && $LN_S $_G_news NEWS
+      func_verbose "$LN_S $_G_news NEWS"
+    }
+
+    return 0
+}
+
+
 # func_ensure_README
 # ------------------
 # Without AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([foreign]), automake will not run to
@@ -3852,7 +4040,7 @@ func_require_autopoint ()
 # --------------------------
 # Complain if the version of bootstrap in the gnulib directory differs
 # from the one we are running.
-require_bootstrap_uptodate=func_require_bootstrap_uptodate
+
 func_require_bootstrap_uptodate ()
 {
     $debug_cmd
@@ -4054,7 +4242,7 @@ func_require_buildreq_patch ()
       # The ugly find invocation is necessary to exit with non-zero
       # status for old find binaries that don't support -exec fully.
       if test ! -d "$local_gl_dir" \
-          || find "$local_gl_dir" -name *.diff -exec false {} \; ; then :
+          || find "$local_gl_dir" -name "*.diff" -exec false {} \; ; then :
       else
           func_append buildreq 'patch - http://www.gnu.org/s/patch
 '
@@ -4206,7 +4394,7 @@ func_require_git ()
     $opt_skip_git && GIT=true
 
     test true = "$GIT" || {
-      if test -f .git; then
+      if test -d .git/.; then
         ($GIT --version) >/dev/null 2>&1 || GIT=true
       fi
     }
@@ -4424,8 +4612,8 @@ func_require_gnulib_submodule ()
       fi
 
       # Make sure we've checked out the correct revision of gnulib.
-      func_show_eval "$GIT submodule init" \
-          && func_show_eval "$GIT submodule update" \
+      func_show_eval "$GIT submodule init -- $gnulib_path" \
+          && func_show_eval "$GIT submodule update -- $gnulib_path" \
           ||  func_fatal_error "Unable to update gnulib submodule."
     fi
 
@@ -4529,6 +4717,9 @@ func_require_libtoolize ()
       func_find_tool LIBTOOLIZE libtoolize glibtoolize
     }
 
+    test -n "$LIBTOOLIZE" || func_fatal_error "\
+Please install GNU Libtool, or 'export LIBTOOLIZE=/path/to/libtoolize'."
+
     func_verbose "export LIBTOOLIZE='$LIBTOOLIZE'"
 
     # Make sure the search result is visible to subshells
@@ -4766,6 +4957,9 @@ func_require_patch ()
       func_find_tool PATCH gpatch patch
     }
 
+    test -n "$PATCH" || func_fatal_error "\
+Please install GNU Patch, or 'export PATCH=/path/to/gnu/patch'."
+
     func_verbose "export PATCH='$PATCH'"
 
     # Make sure the search result is visible to subshells
@@ -5257,7 +5451,7 @@ func_check_tool ()
       ;;
     *)
       save_IFS=$IFS
-      IFS=:
+      IFS=${PATH_SEPARATOR-:}
       for _G_check_tool_path in $PATH; do
         IFS=$save_IFS
 	if test -x "$_G_check_tool_path/$1"; then
@@ -5403,6 +5597,9 @@ func_update_po_files ()
     # Find sha1sum, named gsha1sum on MacPorts, and shasum on MacOS 10.6+.
     func_find_tool SHA1SUM sha1sum gsha1sum shasum sha1
 
+    test -n "$SHA1SUM" || func_fatal_error "\
+Please install GNU Coreutils, or 'export SHA1SUM=/path/to/sha1sum'."
+
     _G_langs=`cd $_G_ref_po_dir && echo *.po|$SED 's|\.po||g'`
     test '*' = "$_G_langs" && _G_langs=x
     for _G_po in $_G_langs; do
diff --git a/bootstrap.conf b/bootstrap.conf
index e070fb4..071258e 100644
--- a/bootstrap.conf
+++ b/bootstrap.conf
@@ -32,9 +32,18 @@
 
 # Build prerequisites
 buildreq='
-        git        1.7.0   http://git-scm.com
-        help2man   1.29    http://www.gnu.org/s/help2man
-        specl      5       http://luarocks.org/repositories/rocks/specl-9-1.rockspec
+    git        1.7.0   http://git-scm.com
+    help2man   1.29    http://www.gnu.org/s/help2man
+    specl      14      http://rocks.moonscript.org/manifests/gvvaughan/specl-14-1.rockspec
+'
+
+# Prequisite rocks that need to be installed for travis builds to work.
+travis_extra_rocks='
+	specl
+'
+
+slingshot_files='
+	travis.yml.in
 '
 
 # No need to do any gnulib-tooling here.
@@ -74,7 +83,9 @@ repository, so that I can tell you when bootstrap needs
 rebuilding."
     else
       rm -f bootstrap.new
-      $build_aux/merge-sections $build_aux/bootstrap.slingshot < $build_aux/bootstrap.in > bootstrap.new
+      $build_aux/merge-sections \
+        -e '^require_bootstrap_uptodate=.*$' '' \
+        $build_aux/bootstrap.slingshot < $build_aux/bootstrap.in > bootstrap.new
 
       if func_cmp_s "$progpath" bootstrap.new; then
         rm -f bootstrap.new
diff --git a/build-aux/bootstrap.in b/build-aux/bootstrap.in
index 2094e73..51fb1a9 100755
--- a/build-aux/bootstrap.in
+++ b/build-aux/bootstrap.in
@@ -2155,7 +2155,7 @@ test -z "$progpath" && . `echo "$0" |${SED-sed} 's|[^/]*$||'`/funclib.sh
 test extract-trace = "$progname" && . `echo "$0" |${SED-sed} 's|[^/]*$||'`/options-parser
 
 # Set a version string.
-scriptversion=2014-01-04.01; # UTC
+scriptversion=2014-12-03.16; # UTC
 
 # 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
@@ -2224,6 +2224,69 @@ func_autoconf_configure ()
 }
 
 
+# func_tool_version_output CMD [FATAL-ERROR-MSG]
+# ----------------------------------------------
+# Attempt to run 'CMD --version', discarding errors.  The output can be
+# ignored by redirecting stdout, and this function used simply to test
+# whether the command exists and exits normally when passed a
+# '--version' argument.
+# When FATAL-ERROR-MSG is given, then this function will display the
+# message and exit if running 'CMD --version' returns a non-zero exit
+# status.
+func_tool_version_output ()
+{
+    $debug_cmd
+
+    _G_cmd=$1
+    _G_fatal_error_msg=$2
+
+    # Some tools, like 'git2cl' produce thousands of lines of output
+    # unless stdin is /dev/null - in that case we want to return
+    # successfully without saving all of that output.  Other tools,
+    # such as 'help2man' exit with a non-zero status when stdin comes
+    # from /dev/null, so we re-execute without /dev/null if that
+    # happens.  This means that occasionally, the output from both calls
+    # ends up in the result, but the alternative would be to discard the
+    # output from one call, and hope the other produces something useful.
+    { $_G_cmd --version </dev/null || $_G_cmd --version; } 2>/dev/null
+    _G_status=$?
+
+    test 0 -ne "$_G_status" && test -n "$_G_fatal_error_msg" \
+        && func_fatal_error "$_G_fatal_error_msg"
+
+    (exit $_G_status)
+}
+
+
+# func_tool_version_number CMD [FATAL-ERROR-MSG]
+# ----------------------------------------------
+# Pass arguments to func_tool_version_output, but set
+# $func_tool_version_number_result to the last dot delimited digit string
+# on the first line of output.
+func_tool_version_number ()
+{
+    $debug_cmd
+
+    _G_verout=`func_tool_version_output "$@"`
+    _G_status=$?
+
+    # A version number starts with a digit following a space on the first
+    # line of output from `--version`.
+    _G_verout=`echo "$_G_verout" |sed 1q`
+    if test -n "$_G_verout"; then
+      _G_vernum=`expr "$_G_verout" : '.* \([0-9][^ ]*\)'`
+    fi
+
+    if test -n "$_G_vernum"; then
+      printf '%s\n' "$_G_vernum"
+    else
+      printf '%s\n' "$_G_verout"
+    fi
+
+    (exit $_G_status)
+}
+
+
 # func_find_tool ENVVAR NAMES...
 # ------------------------------
 # Search for a required program.  Use the value of ENVVAR, if set,
@@ -2241,16 +2304,44 @@ func_find_tool ()
     if test -n "$_G_find_tool_res"; then
       _G_find_tool_error_prefix="\$$find_tool_envvar: "
     else
+      _G_find_tool_res=
+      _G_bestver=
       for _G_prog
       do
-        if func_tool_version_output $_G_prog >/dev/null; then
-          _G_find_tool_res=$_G_prog
-          break
-        fi
+        _G_find_tool_save_IFS=$IFS
+	IFS=:
+	for _G_dir in $PATH; do
+	  IFS=$_G_find_tool_save_IFS
+	  _G_progpath=$_G_dir/$_G_prog
+          test -r "$_G_progpath" && {
+            _G_curver=`func_tool_version_number $_G_progpath`
+	    case $_G_bestver,$_G_curver in
+	    ,)
+	      # first non--version responsive prog sticks!
+              test -n "$_G_progpath" || _G_find_tool_res=$_G_progpath
+              ;;
+            ,*)
+	      # first --version responsive prog beats non--version responsive!
+	      _G_find_tool_res=$_G_progpath
+	      _G_bestver=$_G_curver
+	      ;;
+	    *,*)
+	      # another --version responsive prog must be newer to beat previous one!
+	      test "x$_G_curver" = "x$_G_bestver" \
+		|| func_lt_ver "$_G_curver" "$_G_bestver" \
+		|| {
+		     _G_find_tool_res=$_G_progpath
+		     _G_bestver=$_G_curver
+	           }
+	      ;;
+	    esac
+          }
+	done
+	IFS=$_G_find_tool_save_IFS
       done
     fi
     if test -n "$_G_find_tool_res"; then
-      func_tool_version_output >/dev/null $_G_find_tool_res "\
+      func_tool_version_number >/dev/null $_G_find_tool_res "\
 ${_G_find_tool_error_prefix}Cannot run '$_G_find_tool_res --version'"
 
       # Make sure the result is exported to the environment for children
@@ -2265,39 +2356,6 @@ One of these is required:
 }
 
 
-# func_tool_version_output CMD [FATAL-ERROR-MSG]
-# ----------------------------------------------
-# Attempt to run 'CMD --version', discarding errors.  The output can be
-# ignored by redirecting stdout, and this function used simply to test
-# whether the command exists and exits normally when passed a
-# '--version' argument.
-# When FATAL-ERROR-MSG is given, then this function will display the
-# message and exit if running 'CMD --version' returns a non-zero exit
-# status.
-func_tool_version_output ()
-{
-    $debug_cmd
-
-    _G_cmd=$1
-    _G_fatal_error_msg=$2
-
-    # Some tools, like 'git2cl' produce thousands of lines of output
-    # unless stdin is /dev/null - in that case we want to return
-    # successfully without saving all of that output.  Other tools,
-    # such as 'help2man' exit with a non-zero status when stdin comes
-    # from /dev/null, so we re-execute without /dev/null if that
-    # happens.  This means that occasionally, the output from both calls
-    # ends up in the result, but the alternative would be to discard the
-    # output from one call, and hope the other produces something useful.
-    { $_G_cmd --version </dev/null || $_G_cmd --version; } 2>/dev/null
-    _G_status=$?
-
-    test 0 -ne "$_G_status" && test -n "$_G_fatal_error_msg" \
-        && func_fatal_error "$_G_fatal_error_msg"
-
-    (exit $_G_status)
-}
-
 
 ## -------------------- ##
 ## Resource management. ##
@@ -2563,7 +2621,7 @@ test extract-trace = "$progname" && func_main "$@"
 # End:
 
 # Set a version string for *this* script.
-scriptversion=2014-01-04.01; # UTC
+scriptversion=2014-11-04.13; # UTC
 
 
 ## ------------------- ##
@@ -2689,10 +2747,13 @@ func_reconfigure ()
 
     $require_automake_options
 
-    # Automake (without 'foreign' option) requires that README exists.
+    # Automake (without 'foreign' option) requires that NEWS & README exist.
     case " $automake_options " in
       " foreign ") ;;
-      *) func_ensure_README ;;
+      *)
+        func_ensure_NEWS
+        func_ensure_README
+        ;;
     esac
 
     # Ensure ChangeLog presence.
@@ -3021,6 +3082,29 @@ EOT
 }
 
 
+# func_ensure_NEWS
+# ----------------
+# Without AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([foreign]), automake will not run to
+# completion with no NEWS file, even though NEWS.md or NEWS.txt
+# is often preferable.
+func_ensure_NEWS ()
+{
+    $debug_cmd
+
+    test -f NEWS || {
+      _G_NEWS=
+      for _G_news in NEWS.txt NEWS.md NEWS.rst; do
+        test -f "$_G_news" && break
+      done
+
+      test -f "$_G_news" && $LN_S $_G_news NEWS
+      func_verbose "$LN_S $_G_news NEWS"
+    }
+
+    return 0
+}
+
+
 # func_ensure_README
 # ------------------
 # Without AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([foreign]), automake will not run to
@@ -3546,7 +3630,7 @@ func_require_buildreq_patch ()
       # The ugly find invocation is necessary to exit with non-zero
       # status for old find binaries that don't support -exec fully.
       if test ! -d "$local_gl_dir" \
-          || find "$local_gl_dir" -name *.diff -exec false {} \; ; then :
+          || find "$local_gl_dir" -name "*.diff" -exec false {} \; ; then :
       else
           func_append buildreq 'patch - http://www.gnu.org/s/patch
 '
@@ -3698,7 +3782,7 @@ func_require_git ()
     $opt_skip_git && GIT=true
 
     test true = "$GIT" || {
-      if test -f .git; then
+      if test -d .git/.; then
         ($GIT --version) >/dev/null 2>&1 || GIT=true
       fi
     }
@@ -3916,8 +4000,8 @@ func_require_gnulib_submodule ()
       fi
 
       # Make sure we've checked out the correct revision of gnulib.
-      func_show_eval "$GIT submodule init" \
-          && func_show_eval "$GIT submodule update" \
+      func_show_eval "$GIT submodule init -- $gnulib_path" \
+          && func_show_eval "$GIT submodule update -- $gnulib_path" \
           ||  func_fatal_error "Unable to update gnulib submodule."
     fi
 
@@ -4021,6 +4105,9 @@ func_require_libtoolize ()
       func_find_tool LIBTOOLIZE libtoolize glibtoolize
     }
 
+    test -n "$LIBTOOLIZE" || func_fatal_error "\
+Please install GNU Libtool, or 'export LIBTOOLIZE=/path/to/libtoolize'."
+
     func_verbose "export LIBTOOLIZE='$LIBTOOLIZE'"
 
     # Make sure the search result is visible to subshells
@@ -4258,6 +4345,9 @@ func_require_patch ()
       func_find_tool PATCH gpatch patch
     }
 
+    test -n "$PATCH" || func_fatal_error "\
+Please install GNU Patch, or 'export PATCH=/path/to/gnu/patch'."
+
     func_verbose "export PATCH='$PATCH'"
 
     # Make sure the search result is visible to subshells
@@ -4749,7 +4839,7 @@ func_check_tool ()
       ;;
     *)
       save_IFS=$IFS
-      IFS=:
+      IFS=${PATH_SEPARATOR-:}
       for _G_check_tool_path in $PATH; do
         IFS=$save_IFS
 	if test -x "$_G_check_tool_path/$1"; then
@@ -4895,6 +4985,9 @@ func_update_po_files ()
     # Find sha1sum, named gsha1sum on MacPorts, and shasum on MacOS 10.6+.
     func_find_tool SHA1SUM sha1sum gsha1sum shasum sha1
 
+    test -n "$SHA1SUM" || func_fatal_error "\
+Please install GNU Coreutils, or 'export SHA1SUM=/path/to/sha1sum'."
+
     _G_langs=`cd $_G_ref_po_dir && echo *.po|$SED 's|\.po||g'`
     test '*' = "$_G_langs" && _G_langs=x
     for _G_po in $_G_langs; do
diff --git a/build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot b/build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot
index 3ff5ac1..803464d 100644
--- a/build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot
+++ b/build-aux/bootstrap.slingshot
@@ -334,6 +334,7 @@ slingshot_copy_files ()
       $require_slingshot_submodule
 
       # Make sure we have the latest mkrockspecs
+      # (the rebootstrap rule in slingshot/GNUmakefile autoruns).
       make -C slingshot build-aux/mkrockspecs
 
       # Update in-tree links.
@@ -365,6 +366,65 @@ slingshot_ensure_changelog ()
 func_add_hook func_prep slingshot_ensure_changelog
 
 
+# slingshot_update_travis_yml
+# ---------------------------
+# When 'travis.yml.in' is listed in $slingshot_files, complain if
+# regenerating '.travis.yml' would change it.
+slingshot_update_travis_yml ()
+{
+    $debug_cmd
+
+    $require_git
+
+    _G_travis_yml_in=travis.yml.in
+    _G_travis_yml_out=.travis.yml
+
+    rm -f "$_G_travis_yml_out.new"
+
+    test true = "$GIT" || {
+      case " "`echo $slingshot_files`" " in
+      *" travis.yml.in "*)
+        # Remove trailing blanks so as not to trip sc_trailing_blank in syntax check
+        test -f "$_G_travis_yml_in" && {
+          $slingshot_require_travis_extra_rocks
+
+          eval `grep '^ *PACKAGE=' configure | sed 1q`
+          eval `grep '^ *VERSION=' configure | sed 1q`
+
+          cat "$_G_travis_yml_in" |
+          sed 's|  *$||' |
+          sed "s|@EXTRA_ROCKS@|`echo $travis_extra_rocks`|g" |
+          sed "s|@PACKAGE@|$PACKAGE|g" |
+          sed "s|@VERSION@|$VERSION|g"
+
+          if test -f .slackid; then
+            read slackid < .slackid
+            printf '%s\n' '' 'notifications:' "  slack: $slackid"
+          fi
+        } > "$_G_travis_yml_out.new"
+
+        if test -f "$_G_travis_yml_out"; then
+          if func_cmp_s "$_G_travis_yml_out" "$_G_travis_yml_out.new"; then
+	    func_verbose "$_G_travis_yml_out is up to date"
+            rm -f "$_G_travis_yml_out.new"
+          else
+            func_warning upgrade "\
+An updated $_G_travis_yml_out script is ready for you in
+'$_G_travis_yml_out.new'.  After you've verified that you want
+the changes, you can update with:
+    mv -f $_G_travis_yml_out.new $_G_travis_yml_out"
+          fi
+        else
+	  func_verbose "creating '$_G_travis_yml_out'"
+          mv -f "$_G_travis_yml_out.new" "$_G_travis_yml_out"
+        fi
+        ;;
+      esac
+    }
+}
+func_add_hook func_fini slingshot_update_travis_yml
+
+
 # slingshot_check_rockstree_path
 # ------------------------------
 # Show a warning at the end of bootstrap if --luarocks-tree was passed
@@ -508,30 +568,31 @@ slingshot_require_slingshot_submodule ()
     else
       $require_slingshot_dotgitmodules
 
-      if test -f .gitmodules && test -f "slingshot/src/mkrockspecs.in"
-      then
-        : All present and correct.
-
-      else
+      if test -f .gitmodules; then
         $require_slingshot_path
         $require_slingshot_url
 
-        trap slingshot_cleanup 1 2 13 15
+        if test -f "slingshot/src/mkrockspecs.in"; then
+          : All present and correct.
 
-        shallow=
-        $GIT clone -h 2>&1 |func_grep_q -- --depth \
-            && shallow='--depth 365'
+        else
+          trap slingshot_cleanup 1 2 13 15
+
+          shallow=
+          $GIT clone -h 2>&1 |func_grep_q -- --depth \
+              && shallow='--depth 365'
 
-        func_show_eval "$GIT clone $shallow '$slingshot_url' '$slingshot_path'" \
-          slingshot_cleanup
+          func_show_eval "$GIT clone $shallow '$slingshot_url' '$slingshot_path'" \
+            slingshot_cleanup
 
-        # FIXME: Solaris /bin/sh will try to execute '-' if any of
-        #        these signals are caught after this.
-        trap - 1 2 13 15
+          # FIXME: Solaris /bin/sh will try to execute '-' if any of
+          #        these signals are caught after this.
+          trap - 1 2 13 15
+        fi
 
         # Make sure we've checked out the correct revision of slingshot.
-        func_show_eval "$GIT submodule init" \
-          && func_show_eval "$GIT submodule update" \
+        func_show_eval "$GIT submodule init -- $slingshot_path" \
+          && func_show_eval "$GIT submodule update -- $slingshot_path" \
           || func_fatal_error "Unable to update slingshot submodule."
       fi
     fi
@@ -540,6 +601,49 @@ slingshot_require_slingshot_submodule ()
 }
 
 
+# require_bootstrap_uptodate
+# --------------------------
+# Complain if the version of bootstrap in the build-aux directory differs
+# from the one we are running.
+require_bootstrap_uptodate=slingshot_require_bootstrap_uptodate
+slingshot_require_bootstrap_uptodate ()
+{
+    $debug_cmd
+
+    $require_slingshot_submodule
+
+    _G_slingshot_bootstrap=slingshot/bootstrap
+
+    rm -f $progname.new
+
+    if test -f "$_G_slingshot_bootstrap"; then
+      if func_cmp_s "$progpath" "$_G_slingshot_bootstrap"; then
+	func_verbose "bootstrap script up to date"
+      else
+        cp -f $_G_slingshot_bootstrap $progname.new
+        func_warning upgrade "\
+An updated slingshot bootstrap script is ready for you in
+'$progname.new'.  After you've verified that you want the
+changes, you can update with:
+    mv -f $progname.new $progname
+    ./$progname
+
+Or you can disable this check permanently by adding the
+following to 'bootstrap.conf':
+    require_bootstrap_uptodate=:"
+      fi
+    else
+      func_warning upgrade "\
+Your slingshot submodule appears to be damagedi, so I can't tell
+whether your bootstrap has gone out of sync.  Please check for
+and undo any local changes, or revert to the slingshot revision
+you were using previously, and rerun this script."
+    fi
+
+    require_bootstrap_uptodate=:
+}
+
+
 # slingshot_cleanup
 # -----------------
 # Recursively delete everything at $slingshot_path.
diff --git a/build-aux/merge-sections b/build-aux/merge-sections
index 382c837..e99a710 100755
--- a/build-aux/merge-sections
+++ b/build-aux/merge-sections
@@ -29,11 +29,13 @@ SH=--[[                                             # -*- mode: lua; -*-
 ## ====================================================================
 
 
-_lua_version_re='"Lua 5."[12]*'
-_lua_binaries='lua lua5.2 lua52 lua5.1 lua51'
+_lua_version_re='"Lua 5."[123]*'
+_lua_binaries='lua lua5.3 lua53 lua5.2 lua52 luajit lua5.1 lua51'
 
+export LUA
 export LUA_INIT
 export LUA_INIT_5_2
+export LUA_INIT_5_3
 export LUA_PATH
 export LUA_CPATH
 
@@ -86,6 +88,7 @@ test -n "$LUA" || {
 
 LUA_INIT=
 LUA_INIT_5_2=
+LUA_INIT_5_3=
 
 # Reexecute using the interpreter suppiled in LUA, or found above.
 exec "$LUA" "$0" "$@"
@@ -145,7 +148,7 @@ Report bugs to http://github.com/gvvaughan/slingshot/issues.]])
 end
 
 prog["--version"] = function ()
-  print [[merge-sections (slingshot) 7
+  print [[merge-sections (slingshot) 8.0.0
 Written by Gary V. Vaughan <gary@gnu.org>, 2014
 
 Copyright (C) 2014, Gary V. Vaughan
diff --git a/build-aux/mkrockspecs b/build-aux/mkrockspecs
index ca8fde2..b4115f3 100755
--- a/build-aux/mkrockspecs
+++ b/build-aux/mkrockspecs
@@ -29,11 +29,13 @@ SH=--[[                                             # -*- mode: lua; -*-
 ## ====================================================================
 
 
-_lua_version_re='"Lua 5."[12]*'
-_lua_binaries='lua lua5.2 lua52 lua5.1 lua51'
+_lua_version_re='"Lua 5."[123]*'
+_lua_binaries='lua lua5.3 lua53 lua5.2 lua52 luajit lua5.1 lua51'
 
+export LUA
 export LUA_INIT
 export LUA_INIT_5_2
+export LUA_INIT_5_3
 export LUA_PATH
 export LUA_CPATH
 
@@ -86,6 +88,7 @@ test -n "$LUA" || {
 
 LUA_INIT=
 LUA_INIT_5_2=
+LUA_INIT_5_3=
 
 # Reexecute using the interpreter suppiled in LUA, or found above.
 exec "$LUA" "$0" "$@"
@@ -155,7 +158,7 @@ Report bugs to http://github.com/gvvaughan/slingshot/issues.]])
 end
 
 prog["--version"] = function ()
-  print [[mkrockspecs (slingshot) 7
+  print [[mkrockspecs (slingshot) 8.0.0
 Written by Gary V. Vaughan <gary@gnu.org>, 2013
 
 Copyright (C) 2013, Gary V. Vaughan
@@ -359,7 +362,7 @@ default.build = default.build or {
     "LUA='$(LUA)' LUA_INCLUDE='-I$(LUA_INCDIR)' " .. configure_flags ..
     "--prefix='$(PREFIX)' --libdir='$(LIBDIR)' --datadir='$(LUADIR)' " ..
     "--datarootdir='$(PREFIX)' && make clean all",
-  install_command = "make install luadir='$(LUADIR)'",
+  install_command = "make install luadir='$(LUADIR)' luaexecdir='$(LIBDIR)'",
   copy_directories = {},
 }
 
diff --git a/build-aux/release.mk b/build-aux/release.mk
index b31c155..c6541e8 100644
--- a/build-aux/release.mk
+++ b/build-aux/release.mk
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ _build-aux         ?= build-aux
 my_distdir	   ?= $(PACKAGE)-$(VERSION)
 prev_version_file  ?= $(srcdir)/.prev-version
 old_NEWS_hash-file ?= $(srcdir)/local.mk
-gl_noteworthy_news_ = * Noteworthy changes in release ?.? (????-??-??) [?]
+gl_noteworthy_news_ = \#\# Noteworthy changes in release ?.? (????-??-??) [?]
 
 PREV_VERSION        = $(shell cat $(prev_version_file) 2>/dev/null)
 VERSION_REGEXP      = $(subst .,\.,$(VERSION))
@@ -227,7 +227,15 @@ vc-diff-check:
 # of '$(_build-aux)/do-release-commit-and-tag'.
 # If you want to search only lines 1-10, use "1,10".
 news-check-lines-spec ?= 3
-news-check-regexp ?= '^\*.* $(VERSION_REGEXP) \($(today)\)'
+news-check-regexp ?= '^\#\#.* $(VERSION_REGEXP) \($(today)\)'
+
+Makefile.in: NEWS
+
+NEWS:
+	$(AM_V_GEN)if test -f NEWS.md; then ln -s NEWS.md NEWS;		\
+	elif test -f NEWS.rst; then ln -s NEWS.rst NEWS;		\
+	elif test -f NEWS.txt; then ln -s NEWS.txt NEWS;		\
+	fi
 
 news-check: NEWS
 	$(AM_V_GEN)if $(SED) -n $(news-check-lines-spec)p $<		\
@@ -239,7 +247,7 @@ news-check: NEWS
 	fi
 
 .PHONY: release-commit
-release-commit:
+release-commit: NEWS
 	$(AM_V_GEN)cd $(srcdir)						\
 	  && $(_build-aux)/do-release-commit-and-tag			\
 	       -C $(abs_builddir) $(VERSION) $(RELEASE_TYPE)
@@ -263,7 +271,7 @@ release-prep: $(scm_rockspec)
 	$(AM_V_at)$(MAKE) update-old-NEWS-hash
 	$(AM_V_at)perl -pi						\
 	  -e '$$. == 3 and print "$(gl_noteworthy_news_)\n\n\n"'	\
-	  $(srcdir)/NEWS
+	  `readlink $(srcdir)/NEWS 2>/dev/null || echo $(srcdir)/NEWS`
 	$(AM_V_at)msg=$$($(emit-commit-log)) || exit 1;			\
 	cd $(srcdir) && $(GIT) commit -s -m "$$msg" -a
 	@echo '**** Release announcement in ~/announce-$(my_distdir)'
@@ -300,7 +308,10 @@ GITHUB_ROCKSPEC	= (source.url:gsub ("^git://github", $(_PRE)):gsub ("%.git$$", $
 announcement: NEWS
 # Not $(AM_V_GEN) since the output of this command serves as
 # announcement message: else, it would start with " GEN announcement".
-	$(AM_V_at)$(ANNOUNCE_PRINT) 'print (description.summary)'
+	$(AM_V_at)printf '%s\n'						\
+	  '# [ANN] $(PACKAGE_NAME) $(VERSION) released'			\
+	  ''
+	$(AM_V_at)$(ANNOUNCE_PRINT) 'print (description.detailed)'
 	$(AM_V_at)printf '%s\n'	''					\
 	  'I am happy to announce release $(VERSION) of $(PACKAGE_NAME).' \
 	  ''
@@ -308,7 +319,7 @@ announcement: NEWS
 	  'print ("$(PACKAGE_NAME)'\''s home page is at " .. description.homepage)'
 	$(AM_V_at)printf '\n'
 	$(AM_V_at)$(SED) -n						\
-	    -e '/^\* Noteworthy changes in release $(PREV_VERSION)/q'	\
+	    -e '/^\#\# Noteworthy changes in release $(PREV_VERSION)/q'	\
 	    -e p NEWS |$(SED) -e 1,2d
 	$(AM_V_at)printf '%s\n'						\
 	  'Install it with LuaRocks, using:' ''				\
diff --git a/build-aux/specl.mk b/build-aux/specl.mk
index 6cee599..1afd96a 100644
--- a/build-aux/specl.mk
+++ b/build-aux/specl.mk
@@ -33,9 +33,17 @@
 ## Specl. ##
 ## ------ ##
 
+SPECL_ENV +=						\
+	LUA='$(LUA)'					\
+	abs_top_builddir='$(abs_top_builddir)'		\
+	abs_top_srcdir='$(abs_top_srcdir)'		\
+	top_builddir='$(top_builddir)'			\
+	top_srcdir='$(top_srcdir)'			\
+	$(NOTHING_ELSE)
+
 check_local += specl-check-local
 specl-check-local: $(specl_SPECS)
-	$(SPECL_ENV) LUA=$(LUA) $(SPECL) $(SPECL_OPTS) $(specl_SPECS)
+	$(SPECL_ENV) $(SPECL) $(SPECL_OPTS) $(specl_SPECS)
 
 
 ## ------------- ##
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index b260871..c736e45 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #! /bin/sh
 # Guess values for system-dependent variables and create Makefiles.
-# Generated by GNU Autoconf 2.69 for Slingshot 7.
+# Generated by GNU Autoconf 2.69 for Slingshot 8.0.0.
 #
 # Report bugs to <http://github.com/gvvaughan/slingshot/issues>.
 #
@@ -580,14 +580,13 @@ MAKEFLAGS=
 # Identity of this package.
 PACKAGE_NAME='Slingshot'
 PACKAGE_TARNAME='slingshot'
-PACKAGE_VERSION='7'
-PACKAGE_STRING='Slingshot 7'
+PACKAGE_VERSION='8.0.0'
+PACKAGE_STRING='Slingshot 8.0.0'
 PACKAGE_BUGREPORT='http://github.com/gvvaughan/slingshot/issues'
 PACKAGE_URL=''
 
 ac_subst_vars='LTLIBOBJS
 LIBOBJS
-EXTRA_ROCKS
 SED
 EGREP
 GREP
@@ -1217,7 +1216,7 @@ if test "$ac_init_help" = "long"; then
   # Omit some internal or obsolete options to make the list less imposing.
   # This message is too long to be a string in the A/UX 3.1 sh.
   cat <<_ACEOF
-\`configure' configures Slingshot 7 to adapt to many kinds of systems.
+\`configure' configures Slingshot 8.0.0 to adapt to many kinds of systems.
 
 Usage: $0 [OPTION]... [VAR=VALUE]...
 
@@ -1283,7 +1282,7 @@ fi
 
 if test -n "$ac_init_help"; then
   case $ac_init_help in
-     short | recursive ) echo "Configuration of Slingshot 7:";;
+     short | recursive ) echo "Configuration of Slingshot 8.0.0:";;
    esac
   cat <<\_ACEOF
 
@@ -1363,7 +1362,7 @@ fi
 test -n "$ac_init_help" && exit $ac_status
 if $ac_init_version; then
   cat <<\_ACEOF
-Slingshot configure 7
+Slingshot configure 8.0.0
 generated by GNU Autoconf 2.69
 
 Copyright (C) 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@@ -1380,7 +1379,7 @@ cat >config.log <<_ACEOF
 This file contains any messages produced by compilers while
 running configure, to aid debugging if configure makes a mistake.
 
-It was created by Slingshot $as_me 7, which was
+It was created by Slingshot $as_me 8.0.0, which was
 generated by GNU Autoconf 2.69.  Invocation command line was
 
   $ $0 $@
@@ -1759,9 +1758,9 @@ ac_configure="$SHELL $ac_aux_dir/configure"  # Please don't use this var.
 
 
 
-$as_echo "## ----------------------- ##
-## Configuring slingshot 7 ##
-## ----------------------- ##"
+$as_echo "## --------------------------- ##
+## Configuring slingshot 8.0.0 ##
+## --------------------------- ##"
 echo
 
 am__api_version='1.14'
@@ -2250,7 +2249,7 @@ fi
 
 # Define the identity of the package.
  PACKAGE='slingshot'
- VERSION='7'
+ VERSION='8.0.0'
 
 
 cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
@@ -2483,14 +2482,16 @@ $as_echo "no" >&6; }
 
 fi
 
-            _ax_check_text="whether $LUA version >= 5.1, < 5.3"
+            _ax_check_text="whether $LUA version >= 5.1, < 5.4"
       { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking $_ax_check_text" >&5
 $as_echo_n "checking $_ax_check_text... " >&6; }
 
   if $LUA 2>/dev/null -e '
-        function norm (v) i,j=v:match "(%d+)%.(%d+)" return 100 * i + j end
-        v=norm (_VERSION)
-        os.exit ((v >= norm ("5.1") and v < norm ("5.3")) and 0 or 1)'; then :
+        function norm (v)
+          i,j=v:match "(%d+)%.(%d+)" if i then return 100 * i + j end
+        end
+        v, toobig=norm (_VERSION), norm "5.4" or math.huge
+        os.exit ((v >= norm ("5.1") and v < toobig) and 0 or 1)'; then :
   { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: yes" >&5
 $as_echo "yes" >&6; }
 else
@@ -2502,7 +2503,7 @@ fi
       ax_display_LUA=$LUA
 
 else
-         _ax_check_text="for a Lua interpreter with version >= 5.1, < 5.3"
+         _ax_check_text="for a Lua interpreter with version >= 5.1, < 5.4"
       { $as_echo "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking $_ax_check_text" >&5
 $as_echo_n "checking $_ax_check_text... " >&6; }
 if ${ax_cv_pathless_LUA+:} false; then :
@@ -2519,9 +2520,11 @@ fi
 
 
   if $ax_cv_pathless_LUA 2>/dev/null -e '
-        function norm (v) i,j=v:match "(%d+)%.(%d+)" return 100 * i + j end
-        v=norm (_VERSION)
-        os.exit ((v >= norm ("5.1") and v < norm ("5.3")) and 0 or 1)'; then :
+        function norm (v)
+          i,j=v:match "(%d+)%.(%d+)" if i then return 100 * i + j end
+        end
+        v, toobig=norm (_VERSION), norm "5.4" or math.huge
+        os.exit ((v >= norm ("5.1") and v < toobig) and 0 or 1)'; then :
   break
 fi
 
@@ -2632,21 +2635,15 @@ fi
 
 
 
-  ax_lua_prefixed_path=''
-  _ax_package_paths=`$LUA -e 'print(package.path)' 2>/dev/null | sed 's|;|\n|g'`
-    for _ax_package_path in $_ax_package_paths; do
-        _ax_path_parts=`echo "$_ax_package_path" | sed 's|/|\n|g'`
-    _ax_reassembled=''
-    for _ax_path_part in $_ax_path_parts; do
-      echo "$_ax_path_part" | grep '\?' >/dev/null && break
-      _ax_reassembled="$_ax_reassembled/$_ax_path_part"
-    done
-        _ax_package_path=$_ax_reassembled
-    if echo "$_ax_package_path" | grep "^$ax_lua_prefix" >/dev/null; then
-            ax_lua_prefixed_path=$_ax_package_path
-      break
-    fi
-  done
+  ax_lua_prefixed_path=`$LUA 2>/dev/null -e '
+    package.path:gsub ("([^;]+)",
+      function (p)
+        p = p:gsub ("%?.*$", ""):gsub ("/[^/]*$", "")
+        if p:match ("^$ax_lua_prefix") and (not shortest or #shortest > #p) then
+          shortest = p
+        end
+      end)
+    print (shortest or "")'`
 
         if test "x$ax_lua_prefixed_path" != 'x'; then :
              _ax_strip_prefix=`echo "$ax_lua_prefix" | sed 's|.|.|g'`
@@ -2678,21 +2675,15 @@ fi
 
 
 
-  ax_lua_prefixed_path=''
-  _ax_package_paths=`$LUA -e 'print(package.cpath)' 2>/dev/null | sed 's|;|\n|g'`
-    for _ax_package_path in $_ax_package_paths; do
-        _ax_path_parts=`echo "$_ax_package_path" | sed 's|/|\n|g'`
-    _ax_reassembled=''
-    for _ax_path_part in $_ax_path_parts; do
-      echo "$_ax_path_part" | grep '\?' >/dev/null && break
-      _ax_reassembled="$_ax_reassembled/$_ax_path_part"
-    done
-        _ax_package_path=$_ax_reassembled
-    if echo "$_ax_package_path" | grep "^$ax_lua_exec_prefix" >/dev/null; then
-            ax_lua_prefixed_path=$_ax_package_path
-      break
-    fi
-  done
+  ax_lua_prefixed_path=`$LUA 2>/dev/null -e '
+    package.cpath:gsub ("([^;]+)",
+      function (p)
+        p = p:gsub ("%?.*$", ""):gsub ("/[^/]*$", "")
+        if p:match ("^$ax_lua_exec_prefix") and (not shortest or #shortest > #p) then
+          shortest = p
+        end
+      end)
+    print (shortest or "")'`
 
         if test "x$ax_lua_prefixed_path" != 'x'; then :
              _ax_strip_prefix=`echo "$ax_lua_exec_prefix" | sed 's|.|.|g'`
@@ -2913,26 +2904,6 @@ $as_echo "$ac_cv_path_SED" >&6; }
   rm -f conftest.sed
 
 
-
-  # is required by all slingshot clients for mkrockspecs.
-  EXTRA_ROCKS=-
-  for _ss_rock in lyaml specl; do
-    case $EXTRA_ROCKS in
-      *" $_ss_rock;"*) ;; # ignore duplicates
-      *)
-        test "x$PACKAGE_NAME" != "x$_ss_rock" \
-            && EXTRA_ROCKS="$EXTRA_ROCKS"' $LUAROCKS install '"$_ss_rock;"
-        ;;
-    esac
-  done
-
-  # Avoid empty travis commands.
-  test "x$EXTRA_ROCKS" != "x-" || EXTRA_ROCKS='# No extra rocks needed here;'
-
-
-  ac_config_files="$ac_config_files .travis.yml:travis.yml.in"
-
-
 ac_config_files="$ac_config_files build-aux/merge-sections:src/merge-sections.in"
 
 ac_config_files="$ac_config_files build-aux/mkrockspecs:src/mkrockspecs.in"
@@ -3490,7 +3461,7 @@ cat >>$CONFIG_STATUS <<\_ACEOF || ac_write_fail=1
 # report actual input values of CONFIG_FILES etc. instead of their
 # values after options handling.
 ac_log="
-This file was extended by Slingshot $as_me 7, which was
+This file was extended by Slingshot $as_me 8.0.0, which was
 generated by GNU Autoconf 2.69.  Invocation command line was
 
   CONFIG_FILES    = $CONFIG_FILES
@@ -3543,7 +3514,7 @@ _ACEOF
 cat >>$CONFIG_STATUS <<_ACEOF || ac_write_fail=1
 ac_cs_config="`$as_echo "$ac_configure_args" | sed 's/^ //; s/[\\""\`\$]/\\\\&/g'`"
 ac_cs_version="\\
-Slingshot config.status 7
+Slingshot config.status 8.0.0
 configured by $0, generated by GNU Autoconf 2.69,
   with options \\"\$ac_cs_config\\"
 
@@ -3656,7 +3627,6 @@ cat >>$CONFIG_STATUS <<\_ACEOF || ac_write_fail=1
 for ac_config_target in $ac_config_targets
 do
   case $ac_config_target in
-    ".travis.yml") CONFIG_FILES="$CONFIG_FILES .travis.yml:travis.yml.in" ;;
     "build-aux/merge-sections") CONFIG_FILES="$CONFIG_FILES build-aux/merge-sections:src/merge-sections.in" ;;
     "build-aux/mkrockspecs") CONFIG_FILES="$CONFIG_FILES build-aux/mkrockspecs:src/mkrockspecs.in" ;;
     "Makefile") CONFIG_FILES="$CONFIG_FILES Makefile" ;;
@@ -4086,9 +4056,6 @@ which seems to be undefined.  Please make sure it is defined" >&2;}
 
 
   case $ac_file$ac_mode in
-    ".travis.yml":F)
-    # Remove trailing blanks so as not to trip sc_trailing_blank in syntax check
-    sed 's|  *$||' < .travis.yml > ss_tmp && mv ss_tmp .travis.yml; rm -f ss_tmp ;;
     "build-aux/merge-sections":F) chmod 555 build-aux/merge-sections ;;
     "build-aux/mkrockspecs":F) chmod 555 build-aux/mkrockspecs ;;
 
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 2993bae..3077915 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ dnl along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 AC_PREREQ([2.68])
 
 dnl Initialise autoconf and automake
-AC_INIT([Slingshot], [7], [http://github.com/gvvaughan/slingshot/issues])
+AC_INIT([Slingshot], [8.0.0], [http://github.com/gvvaughan/slingshot/issues])
 AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([build-aux])
 AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
 
@@ -32,12 +32,11 @@ m4_ifdef([AM_SILENT_RULES], [AM_SILENT_RULES([yes])])
 dnl Check for programs
 AC_PATH_PROG([HELP2MAN], [help2man], [false])
 AC_PATH_PROG([SPECL], [specl], [false])
-AX_PROG_LUA([5.1], [5.3])
+AX_PROG_LUA([5.1], [5.4])
 AC_PROG_EGREP
 AC_PROG_SED
 
 dnl Generate output files
-SS_CONFIG_TRAVIS([specl])
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([build-aux/merge-sections:src/merge-sections.in],
                 [chmod 555 build-aux/merge-sections])
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([build-aux/mkrockspecs:src/mkrockspecs.in],
diff --git a/docs/mkrockspecs.1 b/doc/mkrockspecs.1
similarity index 89%
rename from docs/mkrockspecs.1
rename to doc/mkrockspecs.1
index b21635d..3b624fb 100644
--- a/docs/mkrockspecs.1
+++ b/doc/mkrockspecs.1
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-.\" DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE!  It was generated by help2man 1.45.1.
-.TH MKROCKSPECS "1" "July 2014" "mkrockspecs (slingshot) 7" "User Commands"
+.\" DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE!  It was generated by help2man 1.46.4.
+.TH MKROCKSPECS "1" "December 2014" "mkrockspecs (slingshot) 8.0.0" "User Commands"
 .SH NAME
 mkrockspecs \- Slingshot
 .SH SYNOPSIS
diff --git a/local.mk b/local.mk
index 846dc22..0950048 100644
--- a/local.mk
+++ b/local.mk
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 # along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-old_NEWS_hash = 4a4a721668a1516c046d865c7b425586
+old_NEWS_hash = d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e
 
 update_copyright_env = \
 	UPDATE_COPYRIGHT_HOLDER='(Free Software Foundation, Inc.|Gary V. Vaughan|Reuben Thomas)' \
diff --git a/m4/ax_lua.m4 b/m4/ax_lua.m4
index bafaeef..15376af 100644
--- a/m4/ax_lua.m4
+++ b/m4/ax_lua.m4
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@
 #   modified version of the Autoconf Macro, you may extend this special
 #   exception to the GPL to apply to your modified version as well.
 
-#serial 26
+#serial 28
 
 dnl =========================================================================
 dnl AX_PROG_LUA([MINIMUM-VERSION], [TOO-BIG-VERSION],
@@ -359,9 +359,11 @@ dnl =========================================================================
 AC_DEFUN([_AX_LUA_CHK_VER],
 [
   AS_IF([$1 2>/dev/null -e '
-        function norm (v) i,j=v:match "(%d+)%.(%d+)" return 100 * i + j end
-        v=norm (_VERSION)
-        os.exit ((v >= norm ("$2") and v < norm ("$3")) and 0 or 1)'],
+        function norm (v)
+          i,j=v:match "(%d+)%.(%d+)" if i then return 100 * i + j end
+        end
+        v, toobig=norm (_VERSION), norm "$3" or math.huge
+        os.exit ((v >= norm ("$2") and v < toobig) and 0 or 1)'],
     [$4], [$5])
 ])
 
@@ -373,28 +375,19 @@ AC_DEFUN([_AX_LUA_FND_PRFX_PTH],
 [
   dnl Invokes the Lua interpreter PROG to print the path variable
   dnl LUA-PATH-VARIABLE, usually package.path or package.cpath. Paths are
-  dnl then matched against PREFIX. The first path to begin with PREFIX is set
-  dnl to ax_lua_prefixed_path.
-
-  ax_lua_prefixed_path=''
-  _ax_package_paths=`$1 -e 'print($3)' 2>/dev/null | sed 's|;|\n|g'`
-  dnl Try the paths in order, looking for the prefix.
-  for _ax_package_path in $_ax_package_paths; do
-    dnl Copy the path, up to the use of a Lua wildcard.
-    _ax_path_parts=`echo "$_ax_package_path" | sed 's|/|\n|g'`
-    _ax_reassembled=''
-    for _ax_path_part in $_ax_path_parts; do
-      echo "$_ax_path_part" | grep '\?' >/dev/null && break
-      _ax_reassembled="$_ax_reassembled/$_ax_path_part"
-    done
-    dnl Check the path against the prefix.
-    _ax_package_path=$_ax_reassembled
-    if echo "$_ax_package_path" | grep "^$2" >/dev/null; then
-      dnl Found it.
-      ax_lua_prefixed_path=$_ax_package_path
-      break
-    fi
-  done
+  dnl then matched against PREFIX. Then ax_lua_prefixed_path is set to the
+  dnl shortest sub path beginning with PREFIX up to the last directory
+  dnl that does not contain a '?', if any.
+
+  ax_lua_prefixed_path=`$1 2>/dev/null -e '
+    $3:gsub ("(@<:@^;@:>@+)",
+      function (p)
+        p = p:gsub ("%?.*$", ""):gsub ("/@<:@^/@:>@*$", "")
+        if p:match ("^$2") and (not shortest or #shortest > #p) then
+          shortest = p
+        end
+      end)
+    print (shortest or "")'`
 ])
 
 
diff --git a/m4/slingshot.m4 b/m4/slingshot.m4
deleted file mode 100644
index 541f8f5..0000000
--- a/m4/slingshot.m4
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
-dnl slingshot.m4
-dnl
-dnl Copyright (c) 2013-2014 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
-dnl Written by Gary V. Vaughan, 2013
-dnl
-dnl This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
-dnl it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published
-dnl by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3, or (at your
-dnl option) any later version.
-dnl
-dnl This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
-dnl WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-dnl MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
-dnl General Public License for more details.
-dnl
-dnl You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
-dnl along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-
-# SS_CONFIG_TRAVIS(LUAROCKS)
-# --------------------------
-# Generate .travis.yml, ensuring LUAROCKS are installed.
-AC_DEFUN([SS_CONFIG_TRAVIS], [
-  # is required by all slingshot clients for mkrockspecs.
-  EXTRA_ROCKS=-
-  for _ss_rock in lyaml $1; do
-    case $EXTRA_ROCKS in
-      *" $_ss_rock;"*) ;; # ignore duplicates
-      *)
-        test "x$PACKAGE_NAME" != "x$_ss_rock" \
-            && EXTRA_ROCKS="$EXTRA_ROCKS"' $LUAROCKS install '"$_ss_rock;"
-        ;;
-    esac
-  done
-
-  # Avoid empty travis commands.
-  test "x$EXTRA_ROCKS" != "x-" || EXTRA_ROCKS='# No extra rocks needed here;'
-
-  AC_SUBST([EXTRA_ROCKS])
-  AC_CONFIG_FILES([.travis.yml:travis.yml.in], [
-    # Remove trailing blanks so as not to trip sc_trailing_blank in syntax check
-    sed 's|  *$||' < .travis.yml > ss_tmp && mv ss_tmp .travis.yml; rm -f ss_tmp])
-])
diff --git a/rockspec.conf b/rockspec.conf
index ab9d4f8..50fa249 100644
--- a/rockspec.conf
+++ b/rockspec.conf
@@ -8,5 +8,5 @@ description:
     A framework for automatic rockspecs creation and simplified release thereof.
 
 dependencies:
-- lua >= 5.1
+- lua >= 5.1, < 5.4
 - lyaml
diff --git a/slingshot-7-1.rockspec b/slingshot-8.0.0-1.rockspec
similarity index 78%
rename from slingshot-7-1.rockspec
rename to slingshot-8.0.0-1.rockspec
index 66846e0..2d2486d 100644
--- a/slingshot-7-1.rockspec
+++ b/slingshot-8.0.0-1.rockspec
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 package = "slingshot"
-version = "7-1"
+version = "8.0.0-1"
 description = {
   detailed = "A framework for automatic rockspecs creation and simplified release thereof.",
   homepage = "http://github.com/gvvaughan/slingshot",
@@ -7,17 +7,17 @@ description = {
   summary = "Slingshot releases rocks!",
 }
 source = {
-  dir = "slingshot-release-v7",
-  url = "http://github.com/gvvaughan/slingshot/archive/release-v7.zip",
+  dir = "slingshot-release-v8.0.0",
+  url = "http://github.com/gvvaughan/slingshot/archive/release-v8.0.0.zip",
 }
 dependencies = {
-  "lua >= 5.1",
+  "lua >= 5.1, < 5.4",
   "lyaml",
 }
 external_dependencies = nil
 build = {
   build_command = "./configure LUA='$(LUA)' LUA_INCLUDE='-I$(LUA_INCDIR)' --prefix='$(PREFIX)' --libdir='$(LIBDIR)' --datadir='$(LUADIR)' --datarootdir='$(PREFIX)' && make clean all",
   copy_directories = {},
-  install_command = "make install luadir='$(LUADIR)'",
+  install_command = "make install luadir='$(LUADIR)' luaexecdir='$(LIBDIR)'",
   type = "command",
 }
diff --git a/specs/mkrockspecs_spec.yaml b/specs/mkrockspecs_spec.yaml
index bc42547..9bb2f57 100644
--- a/specs/mkrockspecs_spec.yaml
+++ b/specs/mkrockspecs_spec.yaml
@@ -87,35 +87,34 @@ describe mkrockspecs:
 
 - context for a luarocks builtin install:
   - it sets build.type to builtin:
-      expect (parse {"-m docs", "check", "0"; stdin = conf}).
+      expect (parse {"-m doc", "check", "0"; stdin = conf}).
         should_match_output '%stype = "builtin",?\n'
   - it creates a build.modules sub-key:
-      expect (parse {"-m docs", "check", "0"; stdin = conf}).
+      expect (parse {"-m doc", "check", "0"; stdin = conf}).
         should_match_output '%smodules = {'
   - it adds only files with .lua extension to modules sub-table: |
-      name = "docs/spec_check.lua"
+      name = "doc/spec_check.lua"
       f = io.open (name, "w")
       f:write "os.exit (1)"
       f:close ()
-      expect (parse {"-m docs", "check", "0"; stdin = conf}).
-        should_contain_output 'spec_check = "docs/spec_check.lua",\n'
-      expect (parse {"-m docs", "check", "0"; stdin = conf}).
+      expect (parse {"-m doc", "check", "0"; stdin = conf}).
+        should_contain_output 'spec_check = "doc/spec_check.lua",\n'
+      expect (parse {"-m doc", "check", "0"; stdin = conf}).
         should_not_contain_output "mkrockspecs"
       os.remove (name)
   - it adds quoted module keys with non-symbol characters in module path: |
-      name = "docs/spec-check.lua"
+      name = "doc/spec-check.lua"
       f = io.open (name, "w")
       f:write "os.exit (1)"
       f:close ()
-      expect (parse {"-m docs", "check", "0"; stdin = conf}).
-      should_contain_output '["spec-check"] = "docs/spec-check.lua",\n'
-      os.remove (name)
+      expect (parse {"-m doc", "check", "0"; stdin = conf}).
+      should_contain_output '["spec-check"] = "doc/spec-check.lua",\n'
       os.remove (name)
   - it adds quoted module keys with '.' separators for sub-directories: |
-      name = "docs/spec_check.lua"
+      name = "doc/spec_check.lua"
       f = io.open (name, "w")
       f:write "os.exit (1)"
       f:close ()
       expect (parse {"-m .", "check", "0"; stdin = conf}).
-        should_contain_output '["docs.spec_check"] = "docs/spec_check.lua",\n'
+        should_contain_output '["doc.spec_check"] = "doc/spec_check.lua",\n'
       os.remove (name)
diff --git a/src/merge-sections.in b/src/merge-sections.in
index b5acca2..fc92ba4 100755
--- a/src/merge-sections.in
+++ b/src/merge-sections.in
@@ -29,11 +29,13 @@ SH=--[[                                             # -*- mode: lua; -*-
 ## ====================================================================
 
 
-_lua_version_re='"Lua 5."[12]*'
-_lua_binaries='lua lua5.2 lua52 lua5.1 lua51'
+_lua_version_re='"Lua 5."[123]*'
+_lua_binaries='lua lua5.3 lua53 lua5.2 lua52 luajit lua5.1 lua51'
 
+export LUA
 export LUA_INIT
 export LUA_INIT_5_2
+export LUA_INIT_5_3
 export LUA_PATH
 export LUA_CPATH
 
@@ -86,6 +88,7 @@ test -n "$LUA" || {
 
 LUA_INIT=
 LUA_INIT_5_2=
+LUA_INIT_5_3=
 
 # Reexecute using the interpreter suppiled in LUA, or found above.
 exec "$LUA" "$0" "$@"
diff --git a/src/mkrockspecs.in b/src/mkrockspecs.in
index 770bf5b..7f7b6d9 100755
--- a/src/mkrockspecs.in
+++ b/src/mkrockspecs.in
@@ -29,11 +29,13 @@ SH=--[[                                             # -*- mode: lua; -*-
 ## ====================================================================
 
 
-_lua_version_re='"Lua 5."[12]*'
-_lua_binaries='lua lua5.2 lua52 lua5.1 lua51'
+_lua_version_re='"Lua 5."[123]*'
+_lua_binaries='lua lua5.3 lua53 lua5.2 lua52 luajit lua5.1 lua51'
 
+export LUA
 export LUA_INIT
 export LUA_INIT_5_2
+export LUA_INIT_5_3
 export LUA_PATH
 export LUA_CPATH
 
@@ -86,6 +88,7 @@ test -n "$LUA" || {
 
 LUA_INIT=
 LUA_INIT_5_2=
+LUA_INIT_5_3=
 
 # Reexecute using the interpreter suppiled in LUA, or found above.
 exec "$LUA" "$0" "$@"
@@ -359,7 +362,7 @@ default.build = default.build or {
     "LUA='$(LUA)' LUA_INCLUDE='-I$(LUA_INCDIR)' " .. configure_flags ..
     "--prefix='$(PREFIX)' --libdir='$(LIBDIR)' --datadir='$(LUADIR)' " ..
     "--datarootdir='$(PREFIX)' && make clean all",
-  install_command = "make install luadir='$(LUADIR)'",
+  install_command = "make install luadir='$(LUADIR)' luaexecdir='$(LIBDIR)'",
   copy_directories = {},
 }
 
diff --git a/src/src.mk b/src/src.mk
index c193dd1..ddfef4e 100644
--- a/src/src.mk
+++ b/src/src.mk
@@ -23,10 +23,10 @@
 
 bin_SCRIPTS += build-aux/mkrockspecs
 
-man_MANS += docs/mkrockspecs.1
+man_MANS += doc/mkrockspecs.1
 
-docs/mkrockspecs.1: build-aux/mkrockspecs Makefile
-	@test -d docs || mkdir docs
+doc/mkrockspecs.1: build-aux/mkrockspecs Makefile
+	@test -d doc || mkdir doc
 ## Exit gracefully if mkrockspecs.1 is not writeable, such as during distcheck!
 	$(AM_V_GEN)if ( touch $@.w && rm -f $@.w; ) >/dev/null 2>&1; \
 	then						\
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ docs/mkrockspecs.1: build-aux/mkrockspecs Makefile
 EXTRA_DIST +=						\
 	build-aux/merge-sections			\
 	build-aux/mkrockspecs				\
-	docs/mkrockspecs.1				\
+	doc/mkrockspecs.1				\
 	$(NOTHING_ELSE)
 
 
@@ -55,5 +55,5 @@ EXTRA_DIST +=						\
 ## ------------ ##
 
 CLEANFILES +=						\
-	docs/mkrockspecs.1				\
+	doc/mkrockspecs.1				\
 	$(NOTHING_ELSE)
diff --git a/travis.yml.in b/travis.yml.in
index 6644c59..e7731d6 100644
--- a/travis.yml.in
+++ b/travis.yml.in
@@ -1,69 +1,133 @@
-# Lua is not officially supported, but an erlang environment will do.
-language: erlang
+language: c
 
 env:
   global:
-    - PACKAGE=@PACKAGE@
-    - ROCKSPEC=$PACKAGE-git-1.rockspec
-    - LUAROCKS_CONFIG=build-aux/luarocks-config.lua
-    - LUAROCKS="$LUA $HOME/bin/luarocks"
+    - _COMPILE="libtool --mode=compile --tag=CC gcc"
+    - _CFLAGS="-O2 -Wall -DLUA_COMPAT_ALL -DLUA_USE_LINUX"
+    - _INSTALL="libtool --mode=install install -p"
+    - _LINK="libtool --mode=link --tag=CC gcc"
+    - _LIBS="-lm -Wl,-E -ldl -lreadline"
+
+    - prefix=/usr/local
+    - bindir=$prefix/bin
+    - incdir=$prefix/include
+    - libdir=$prefix/lib
   matrix:
-    - LUA=lua5.1             LUA_INCDIR=/usr/include/lua5.1     LUA_SUFFIX=5.1
-    - LUA=lua5.2             LUA_INCDIR=/usr/include/lua5.2     LUA_SUFFIX=5.2
-    - LUA=luajit-2.0.0-beta9 LUA_INCDIR=/usr/include/luajit-2.0 LUA_SUFFIX=5.1
+    - LUA=lua5.3
+    - LUA=lua5.2
+    - LUA=lua5.1
+    - LUA=luajit
 
-# Tool setup.
-install:
+
+before_install:
   # Put back the links for libyaml, which are missing on recent Travis VMs
   - test -f /usr/lib/libyaml.so ||
     sudo find /usr/lib -name 'libyaml*' -exec ln -s {} /usr/lib \;
-
   - sudo apt-get install help2man
-  - sudo apt-get install luajit
-  - sudo apt-get install libluajit-5.1-dev
-  - sudo apt-get install lua5.1
-  - sudo apt-get install liblua5.1-dev
-  - sudo apt-get install lua5.2
-  - sudo apt-get install liblua5.2-dev
-
-  # Install a luarocks beta locally for everything else.
-  - git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/keplerproject/luarocks.git
-  # LuaRocks configure --with-lua argument is just a prefix!
-  - ( cd luarocks;
-      ./configure
-      --prefix=$HOME --with-lua=/usr --lua-version=$LUA_SUFFIX
-      --lua-suffix=$LUA_SUFFIX --with-lua-include=$LUA_INCDIR;
-      make build;
-      make install; )
-
-# Configure and build.
+
+  # Fetch Lua sources.
+  - cd $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR
+  - 'if test lua5.3 = "$LUA"; then
+      curl http://www.lua.org/work/lua-5.3.0-rc1.tar.gz | tar xz;
+      cd lua-5.3.0;
+    fi'
+  - 'if test lua5.2 = "$LUA"; then
+      curl http://www.lua.org/ftp/lua-5.2.3.tar.gz | tar xz;
+      cd lua-5.2.3;
+    fi'
+  - 'if test lua5.1 = "$LUA"; then
+      curl http://www.lua.org/ftp/lua-5.1.5.tar.gz | tar xz;
+      cd lua-5.1.5;
+    fi'
+
+  # Unpack, compile and install Lua.
+  - 'if test luajit = "$LUA"; then
+      curl http://luajit.org/download/LuaJIT-2.0.3.tar.gz | tar xz;
+      cd LuaJIT-2.0.3;
+      make && sudo make install;
+      for header in lua.h luaconf.h lualib.h lauxlib.h luajit.h lua.hpp; do
+        if test -f /usr/local/include/luajit-2.0/$header; then
+          sudo ln -s /usr/local/include/luajit-2.0/$header /usr/local/include/$header;
+        fi;
+      done;
+    else
+      for src in src/*.c; do
+        test src/lua.c = "$src" || test src/luac.c = "$src" || eval $_COMPILE $_CFLAGS -c $src;
+      done;
+      eval $_LINK -o lib$LUA.la -version-info 0:0:0 -rpath $libdir *.lo;
+      sudo mkdir -p $libdir;
+      eval sudo $_INSTALL lib$LUA.la $libdir/lib$LUA.la;
+
+      eval $_COMPILE $_CFLAGS -c src/lua.c;
+      eval $_LINK -static -o $LUA lua.lo lib$LUA.la $_LIBS;
+      sudo mkdir -p $bindir;
+      eval sudo $_INSTALL $LUA $bindir/$LUA;
+
+      sudo mkdir -p $incdir;
+      for header in lua.h luaconf.h lualib.h lauxlib.h lua.hpp; do
+        if test -f src/$header; then
+          eval sudo $_INSTALL src/$header $incdir/$header;
+        fi;
+      done;
+    fi'
+
+  # Fetch LuaRocks.
+  - cd $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR
+  - 'git clone https://github.com/keplerproject/luarocks.git luarocks-2.2.0'
+  - cd luarocks-2.2.0
+  - git checkout v2.2.0
+
+  # Compile and install luarocks.
+  - if test luajit = "$LUA"; then
+      ./configure --lua-suffix=jit;
+    else
+      ./configure;
+    fi
+  - 'make build && sudo make install'
+
+  # Tidy up file droppings.
+  - cd $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR
+  - rm -rf lua-5.3.0 lua-5.2.3 lua-5.1.5 LuaJIT-2.0.3 luarocks-2.2.0
+
+
+install:
+  # Use Lua 5.3 compatible rocks, where available.
+  - 'for rock in @EXTRA_ROCKS@""; do
+       if test -z "$rock"; then break; fi;
+       if luarocks list | grep "^$rock$" >/dev/null; then continue; fi;
+       sudo luarocks install --server=http://rocks.moonscript.org/manifests/gvvaughan $rock;
+    done'
+
+  # Build from rockspec.
+  - export ROCKSPEC=@PACKAGE@-@VERSION@-1.rockspec
+  - 'test -f "$ROCKSPEC" || ROCKSPEC=@PACKAGE@-git-1.rockspec'
+  - sudo luarocks make $ROCKSPEC LUA="$LUA"
+
+  # Clean up files created by root
+  - sudo git clean -dfx
+  - sudo rm -rf slingshot
+
+
 script:
-  # Initial bootstrap to build luarocks-config.lua, before we've
-  # installed our rocks.
-  - ./bootstrap --skip-rock-checks
-  - ./configure LUA="$LUA"
-  - make $LUAROCKS_CONFIG
-    LUA="$LUA" LUA_INCDIR="$LUA_INCDIR" V=1
-    || cat $LUAROCKS_CONFIG config.log
-
-  # Set Lua and Shell paths up for local luarocks tree.
-  # this package depends on will be installed.
-  - eval `$LUAROCKS path`
-  - export PATH=`pwd`/luarocks/bin:$PATH
-
-  # Install extra rocks into $LUAROCKS_CONFIG rocks tree.
-  @EXTRA_ROCKS@
-
-  # Make git rockspec for this @PACKAGE@
-  - make rockspecs LUAROCKS="$LUAROCKS" V=1
-    || { $LUAROCKS path; cat $ROCKSPEC; }
-
-  # The git rockspec will rerun bootstrap, and check any rock versions
-  # in bootstrap.conf:buildreq this time.
-  - $LUAROCKS make $ROCKSPEC LUA="$LUA"
-
-  # Run self-tests in the `luarocks make` build tree.
-  - LUA_PATH=`pwd`'/lib/?.lua;'"${LUA_PATH-;}"
-    LUA_CPATH=`pwd`'/ext/?.so;'"${LUA_CPATH-;}"
-    LUA_INIT= LUA_INIT_5_2=
-    make check V=1
+  - 'if test -f configure; then
+      touch aclocal.m4;
+      sleep 1; touch Makefile.in;
+      sleep 1; touch config.h.in;
+      sleep 1; touch configure;
+    else
+      ./bootstrap --verbose;
+    fi'
+  - test -f Makefile || ./configure --disable-silent-rules LUA="$LUA"
+  - make
+  - make check V=1
+
+
+# Run sanity checks on CI server, ignoring buggy automakes.
+after_success:
+  - '{ _assign="=";
+       if grep local-checks-to-skip build-aux/sanity-cfg.mk >/dev/null; then
+         _assign="+=";
+       fi;
+       printf "local-checks-to-skip %s sc_vulnerable_makefile_CVE-2012-3386\n" "$_assign";
+     } >> build-aux/sanity-cfg.mk'
+  - 'make syntax-check || : this will usually fail on the release branch'