diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 4479381a..3f35c7a0 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -144,10 +144,11 @@
                         by default describe will run "just like git-describe on the command line", even though it's a JGit reimplementation.
                     -->
                     <gitDescribe>
-
+                        <!-- This will show the available tags-->
+						<tags>true</tags>
+						
                         <!-- don't generate the describe property -->
                         <skip>false</skip>
-
                         <!-- 
                             if no tag was found "near" this commit, just print the commit's id instead, 
                             helpful when you always expect this field to be not-empty 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/glusterfs/GlusterFileSystem.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/glusterfs/GlusterFileSystem.java
index 4fed7939..8107f862 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/glusterfs/GlusterFileSystem.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/glusterfs/GlusterFileSystem.java
@@ -62,7 +62,10 @@ public void initialize(URI name,Configuration conf) throws IOException{
 
     public GlusterFileSystem(){
         this(new GlusterVolume());
+        Version v=new Version();
         log.info("Initializing GlusterFS,  CRC disabled.");
+        log.info("GIT INFO="+v);
+        log.info("GIT_TAG="+v.getTag());
     }
 
     public GlusterFileSystem(FileSystem rawLocalFileSystem){
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/glusterfs/GlusterFileSystemCRC.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/glusterfs/GlusterFileSystemCRC.java
index f06c284e..2739a77d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/glusterfs/GlusterFileSystemCRC.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/glusterfs/GlusterFileSystemCRC.java
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ public class GlusterFileSystemCRC extends LocalFileSystem{
     
     public GlusterFileSystemCRC(){
         super(new GlusterVolume());
+        Version v = new Version();
+        log.info("GIT INFO="+v);
+        log.info("GIT_TAG="+v.getTag());
     }
     
     public void setConf(Configuration conf){
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/glusterfs/Version.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/glusterfs/Version.java
index a6aeefce..2c5a5aba 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/glusterfs/Version.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/fs/glusterfs/Version.java
@@ -1,20 +1,51 @@
 package org.apache.hadoop.fs.glusterfs;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.util.Properties;
 
-import org.slf4j.Logger;
-import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+import java.util.Properties;
 
+/**
+ * Versioning stuff for the shim.  This class is not tested since there is no 
+ * deterministic behaviour (i.e. it might not work if not building from binary), 
+ * and the effects are pure side effects.
+ */
 public class Version extends Properties{
-    final static Logger lg = LoggerFactory.getLogger(Version.class);
     public Version() {
         super();
         try{
             load(this.getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("git.properties"));
         }
         catch(Throwable t){
-            lg.error("Couldn't find git properties for version info " + t.getMessage());
+            throw new RuntimeException("Couldn't find git properties for version info " + t.getMessage());
+        }
+    }
+    public String getTag(){
+        return this.getProperty("git.commit.id.describe").split("-")[0];
+    }
+    
+    /**
+     * For use with terminal version checking. 
+       
+       Example, run with an argument to get single property:
+             java -cp /home/Development/hadoop-glusterfs/glusterfs-2.0-SNAPSHOT.jar \
+                 org.apache.hadoop.fs.glusterfs.Version git.commit.id.describe | cut -d'-' -f 1     
+
+       Or just run (no args, prints all properties)
+             java -cp /home/Development/hadoop-glusterfs/glusterfs-2.0-SNAPSHOT.jar \
+    */
+    public static void main(String[] args){
+        Version v = new Version();
+        //Dump the whole version info if no arg
+        if(args.length==0){
+            System.out.println(v);
+        }
+        //if specific arg given, print just that.
+        else{
+            String prop = v.get(args[0])+"";
+            System.out.println(
+                    prop!=null?
+                        prop
+                        :"Couldnt find property "+prop);
         }
     }
 }