diff --git a/Library/Formula/pkg-config.rb b/Library/Formula/pkg-config.rb
index d95229e4c883..eb08fc5f54e8 100644
--- a/Library/Formula/pkg-config.rb
+++ b/Library/Formula/pkg-config.rb
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ class PkgConfig <Formula
   #TODO depend on our glib if available. --with-installed-glib
 
   def install
-    system "./configure --with-pc-path=/usr/lib/pkgconfig:/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig:#{$root}/lib/pkgconfig --disable-debug --prefix='#{prefix}'"
+    system "./configure --with-pc-path=/usr/lib/pkgconfig:/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig:#{HOMEBREW_PREFIX}/lib/pkgconfig --disable-debug --prefix='#{prefix}'"
     system "make install"
   end
 end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/brewkit.rb b/Library/Homebrew/brewkit.rb
index 94cb8a014545..1ff6e0af23c1 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/brewkit.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/brewkit.rb
@@ -31,18 +31,18 @@
 ENV['CXX']='g++-4.2'
 ENV['MAKEFLAGS']="-j#{OSX::NSProcessInfo.processInfo.processorCount}"
 
-unless $root.to_s == '/usr/local'
-  ENV['CPPFLAGS']='-I'+$root+'include'
-  ENV['LDFLAGS']='-L'+$root+'lib'
+unless HOMEBREW_PREFIX == '/usr/local'
+  ENV['CPPFLAGS']="-I#{HOMEBREW_PREFIX}/include"
+  ENV['LDFLAGS']="-L#{HOMEBREW_PREFIX}/lib"
 end
 
 def inreplace(path, before, after)
   before=Regexp.escape before.to_s
   after=Regexp.escape after.to_s
-  before=before.gsub "/", "\\\/"
-  after=after.gsub "/", "\\\/"
-  before=before.gsub "'", '\''
-  after=after.gsub "'", '\''
+  before.gsub! "/", "\\\/"
+  after.gsub! "/", "\\\/"
+  before.gsub! "'", '\''
+  after.gsub! "'", '\''
 
   # TODO this sucks
   # either use 'ed', or allow regexp and use a proper ruby function
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/env.rb b/Library/Homebrew/env.rb
index dbba19e8a7d1..7ff57071eb91 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/env.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/env.rb
@@ -15,103 +15,10 @@
 #  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 #  along with Homebrew.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-require 'pathname'
-
-$root=Pathname.new(__FILE__).dirname.parent.parent.realpath
-$formula=$root+'Library'+'Formula'
-$cellar=$root+'Cellar'
+require 'pathname+yeast'
+require 'utils'
 
 HOMEBREW_VERSION='0.3'
 HOMEBREW_CACHE=File.expand_path "~/Library/Caches/Homebrew"
-
-
-######################################################################## utils
-def ohai title
-  n=`tput cols`.strip.to_i-4
-  puts "\033[0;34m==>\033[0;0;1m #{title[0,n]}\033[0;0m"
-end
-
-
-############################################################### class Pathname
-# we enhance Pathname to make our code more legible
-# of course this kind of thing is evil, but meh
-class Pathname
-  def mv dst    
-    FileUtils.mv to_s, dst
-  end
-  
-  def rename dst
-    dst=Pathname.new dst
-    dst.unlink if dst.exist?
-    mv dst
-  end
-
-  def install src
-    if src.is_a? Array
-      src.each {|src| install src }
-    elsif File.exist? src
-      mkpath
-      if File.symlink? src
-        # we use the BSD mv command because FileUtils copies the target and
-        # not the link! I'm beginning to wish I'd used Python quite honestly!
-        `mv #{src} #{to_s}`
-      else
-        # we mv when possible as it is faster and you should only be using
-        # this function when installing from the temporary build directory
-        FileUtils.mv src, to_s
-      end
-    end
-  end
-
-  def cp dst
-    if file?
-      FileUtils.cp to_s, dst
-    else
-      FileUtils.cp_r to_s, dst
-    end
-  end
-
-  # extended to support the double extensions .tar.gz and .tar.bz2
-  def extname
-    /(\.tar\.(gz|bz2))$/.match to_s
-    return $1 if $1
-    return File.extname(to_s)
-  end
-
-  # for filetypes we support, basename without extension
-  def stem
-    return File.basename(to_s, extname)
-  end
-
-  def version
-    # eg. boost_1_39_0
-    /((\d+_)+\d+)$/.match stem
-    return $1.gsub('_', '.') if $1
-
-    # eg. foobar-4.5.1-1
-    /-((\d+\.)*\d+-\d+)$/.match stem
-    return $1 if $1
-
-    # eg. foobar-4.5.1
-    /-((\d+\.)*\d+)$/.match stem
-    return $1 if $1
-
-    # eg. foobar-4.5.1b
-    /-((\d+\.)*\d+([abc]|rc\d))$/.match stem
-    return $1 if $1
-
-    # eg foobar-4.5.0-beta1
-    /-((\d+\.)*\d+-beta\d+)$/.match stem
-    return $1 if $1
-
-    # eg. foobar4.5.1
-    /((\d+\.)*\d+)$/.match stem
-    return $1 if $1
-
-    # eg. otp_src_R13B (this is erlang's style)
-    # eg. astyle_1.23_macosx.tar.gz
-    stem.scan /_([^_]+)/ do |match|
-      return match.first if /\d/.match $1
-    end
-  end
-end
+HOMEBREW_PREFIX=Pathname.new(__FILE__).dirname.parent.parent.realpath
+HOMEBREW_CELLAR=HOMEBREW_PREFIX+'Cellar'
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb b/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb
index ad975ef007f2..f2763f8993f1 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@
 #  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 #  along with Homebrew.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-require 'env'
-
 class BuildError <RuntimeError
   def initialize cmd
     super "Build failed during: #{cmd}"
@@ -76,7 +74,7 @@ def initialize name=nil
   def prefix
     raise "@name.nil!" if @name.nil?
     raise "@version.nil?" if @version.nil?
-    $cellar+@name+@version
+    HOMEBREW_CELLAR+@name+@version
   end
   def bin
     prefix+'bin'
@@ -239,7 +237,7 @@ def self.class name
   end
 
   def self.path name
-    $formula+(name.downcase+'.rb')
+    Pathanme.new(HOMEBREW_PREFIX)+'Formula'+(name.downcase+'.rb')
   end
   
   def self.create name
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/keg.rb b/Library/Homebrew/keg.rb
index 72768ee0264e..f5c856a9507d 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/keg.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/keg.rb
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 #  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 #  along with Homebrew.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-require 'env'
 require 'formula'
 
 class Keg
@@ -29,7 +28,7 @@ def initialize formula
     elsif formula.is_a? Pathname
       # TODO
     elsif formula.is_a? String
-      path=$cellar+formula
+      path=HOMEBREW_CELLAR+formula
       kids=path.children
       raise "Empty installation: #{path}" if kids.length < 1
       raise "Multiple versions installed" if kids.length > 1
@@ -83,12 +82,12 @@ def clean
 
   def rm
     # don't rmtree shit if we aren't positive about our location!
-    raise "Bad stuff!" unless path.parent.parent == $cellar
+    raise "Bad stuff!" unless path.parent.parent == HOMEBREW_CELLAR
 
     if path.directory?
       FileUtils.chmod_R 0777, path # ensure we have permission to delete
-      path.rmtree # $cellar/foo/1.2.0
-      path.parent.rmdir if path.parent.children.length == 0 # $cellar/foo
+      path.rmtree # HOMEBREW_CELLAR/foo/1.2.0
+      path.parent.rmdir if path.parent.children.length == 0 # HOMEBREW_CELLAR/foo
     end
   end
 
@@ -109,13 +108,14 @@ def __ln start
     start=path+start
     return unless start.directory?
 
+    root=Pathname.new HOMEBREW_PREFIX
     start.find do |from|
       next if from == start
 
       prune=false
 
       relative_path=from.relative_path_from path
-      to=$root+relative_path
+      to=root+relative_path
 
       if from.file?
         __symlink_relative_to from, to
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/pathname+yeast.rb b/Library/Homebrew/pathname+yeast.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..75eb98bba95b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/pathname+yeast.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+#  Copyright 2009 Max Howell <max@methylblue.com>
+#
+#  This file is part of Homebrew.
+#
+#  Homebrew is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+#  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+#  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+#  (at your option) any later version.
+#
+#  Homebrew is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+#  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+#  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+#  GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+#  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+#  along with Homebrew.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+require 'pathname'
+
+# we enhance pathname to make our code more readable
+class Pathname
+  def mv dst    
+    FileUtils.mv to_s, dst
+  end
+  
+  def rename dst
+    dst=Pathname.new dst
+    dst.unlink if dst.exist?
+    mv dst
+  end
+
+  def install src
+    if src.is_a? Array
+      src.each {|src| install src }
+    elsif File.exist? src
+      mkpath
+      if File.symlink? src
+        # we use the BSD mv command because FileUtils copies the target and
+        # not the link! I'm beginning to wish I'd used Python quite honestly!
+        `mv #{src} #{to_s}`
+      else
+        # we mv when possible as it is faster and you should only be using
+        # this function when installing from the temporary build directory
+        FileUtils.mv src, to_s
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  def cp dst
+    if file?
+      FileUtils.cp to_s, dst
+    else
+      FileUtils.cp_r to_s, dst
+    end
+  end
+
+  # extended to support the double extensions .tar.gz and .tar.bz2
+  def extname
+    /(\.tar\.(gz|bz2))$/.match to_s
+    return $1 if $1
+    return File.extname(to_s)
+  end
+
+  # for filetypes we support, basename without extension
+  def stem
+    return File.basename(to_s, extname)
+  end
+
+  def version
+    # eg. boost_1_39_0
+    /((\d+_)+\d+)$/.match stem
+    return $1.gsub('_', '.') if $1
+
+    # eg. foobar-4.5.1-1
+    /-((\d+\.)*\d+-\d+)$/.match stem
+    return $1 if $1
+
+    # eg. foobar-4.5.1
+    /-((\d+\.)*\d+)$/.match stem
+    return $1 if $1
+
+    # eg. foobar-4.5.1b
+    /-((\d+\.)*\d+([abc]|rc\d))$/.match stem
+    return $1 if $1
+
+    # eg foobar-4.5.0-beta1
+    /-((\d+\.)*\d+-beta\d+)$/.match stem
+    return $1 if $1
+
+    # eg. foobar4.5.1
+    /((\d+\.)*\d+)$/.match stem
+    return $1 if $1
+
+    # eg. otp_src_R13B (this is erlang's style)
+    # eg. astyle_1.23_macosx.tar.gz
+    stem.scan /_([^_]+)/ do |match|
+      return match.first if /\d/.match $1
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/unittest.rb b/Library/Homebrew/unittest.rb
index 7b15b2949733..dcaf036de065 100755
--- a/Library/Homebrew/unittest.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/unittest.rb
@@ -1,9 +1,16 @@
 #!/usr/bin/ruby
-
 $:.unshift File.dirname(__FILE__)
-require 'test/unit'
 require 'formula'
+require 'pathname+yeast'
 require 'stringio'
+require 'test/unit'
+require 'utils'
+
+# these are defined in env usually, but we want a fake place for everything init
+HOMEBREW_VERSION='1t'
+HOMEBREW_CACHE="/tmp/testbrew"
+HOMEBREW_PREFIX=Pathname.new(HOMEBREW_CACHE)+'prefix'
+HOMEBREW_CELLAR=Pathname.new(HOMEBREW_CACHE)+'cellar'
 
 class TestFormula <Formula
   def initialize url, md5='nomd5'
@@ -112,7 +119,7 @@ def test_prefix
 
     nostdout do
       TestFormula.new(url, md5).brew do |f|
-        assert_equal File.expand_path(f.prefix), ($cellar+f.name+'0.1').to_s
+        assert_equal File.expand_path(f.prefix), (HOMEBREW_CELLAR+f.name+'0.1').to_s
         assert_kind_of Pathname, f.prefix
       end
     end
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb b/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..87ffb1473616
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#  Copyright 2009 Max Howell <max@methylblue.com>
+#
+#  This file is part of Homebrew.
+#
+#  Homebrew is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+#  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+#  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+#  (at your option) any later version.
+#
+#  Homebrew is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+#  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+#  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+#  GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+#  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+#  along with Homebrew.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+def ohai title
+  n=`tput cols`.strip.to_i-4
+  puts "\033[0;34m==>\033[0;0;1m #{title[0,n]}\033[0;0m"
+end
diff --git a/bin/brew b/bin/brew
index 0797422aea23..bb89d3712072 100755
--- a/bin/brew
+++ b/bin/brew
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/ruby
-require 'find'
-require 'pathname'
-$:.unshift Pathname.new(__FILE__).dirname.parent.realpath+'Library'+'Homebrew'
+$:.unshift __FILE__+'/../../Library/Homebrew'
 require 'env'
+require 'find'
 
 # often causes Ruby to throw exception ffs
 Dir.chdir '/' unless File.directory? ENV['PWD']
@@ -11,9 +10,9 @@ Dir.chdir '/' unless File.directory? ENV['PWD']
 def prune
   n=0
   dirs=Array.new
-  $root.find do |path|
+  HOMEBREW_PREFIX.find do |path|
     if path.directory?
-      name=path.relative_path_from($root).to_s
+      name=path.relative_path_from(HOMEBREW_PREFIX).to_s
       if name == '.git' or name == 'Cellar' or name == 'Library'
         Find.prune
       else
@@ -60,7 +59,7 @@ def extract_kegs
 end
 
 def abv keg=nil
-  path=keg ? keg.path : $cellar
+  path=keg ? keg.path : HOMEBREW_CELLAR
   if path.directory?
     `find #{path} -type f | wc -l`.strip+' files, '+`du -hd0 #{path} | cut -d"\t" -f1`.strip
   else
@@ -203,7 +202,8 @@ begin
 
     when 'edit'
       if ARGV.empty?
-        exec "mate #{$formula} #{$root}/Library/Homebrew #{$root}/bin/brew #{$root}/README"
+        r=HOMEBREW_PREFIX
+        exec "mate #{r}/Library/Formula #{r}/Library/Homebrew #{r}/bin/brew #{r}/README"
       else
         require 'formula'
         paths=extract_named_args.collect {|name| Formula.path(name).to_s.gsub ' ', '\\ '}
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ begin
 
     when 'info', 'abv'
       if ARGV.empty?
-        puts `ls #{$cellar} | wc -l`.strip+" kegs, "+abv
+        puts `ls #{HOMEBREW_CELLAR} | wc -l`.strip+" kegs, "+abv
       elsif ARGV[0][0..6] == 'http://'
         puts Pathname.new(ARGV.shift).version
       else
@@ -292,4 +292,4 @@ rescue StandardError, Interrupt => e
   else
     raise
   end
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end