diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index b2e515e2853..cd1a43bd28d 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -4,6 +4,6 @@
 [submodule "node_modules/abbrev"]
 	path = node_modules/abbrev
 	url = git://github.com/isaacs/abbrev-js.git
-[submodule "node_modules/optparse"]
-	path = node_modules/optparse
-	url = git://github.com/isaacs/node-optparse.git
+[submodule "node_modules/nopt"]
+	path = node_modules/nopt
+	url = git://github.com/isaacs/nopt.git
diff --git a/bin/npm.js b/bin/npm.js
index 71467a2b672..b508757346c 100755
--- a/bin/npm.js
+++ b/bin/npm.js
@@ -15,11 +15,11 @@ var fs = require("../lib/utils/graceful-fs")
   , configDefs = require("../lib/utils/config-defs")
   , shorthands = configDefs.shorthands
   , types = configDefs.types
-  , optparse = require("optparse")
+  , nopt = require("nopt")
 
 log.verbose(process.argv, "cli")
 
-var conf = optparse(types, shorthands)
+var conf = nopt(types, shorthands)
 npm.argv = conf.argv.remain
 if (npm.deref(npm.argv[0])) npm.command = npm.argv.shift()
 else conf.usage = true
diff --git a/doc/config.md b/doc/config.md
index d6c0a02a343..8b0d43872e2 100644
--- a/doc/config.md
+++ b/doc/config.md
@@ -130,6 +130,23 @@ then the user could change the behavior by doing:
 
 ## Config Settings
 
+### bindist
+
+* Default: Unstable node versions, `null`, otherwise
+  `"<node version>-<platform>-<os release>"`
+* Type: String or `null`
+
+Experimental: on stable versions of node, binary distributions will be
+created with this tag.  If a user then installs that package, and their
+`bindist` tag is found in the list of binary distributions, they will
+get that prebuilt version.
+
+Pre-build node packages have their preinstall, install, and postinstall
+scripts stripped (since they are run prior to publishing), and do not
+have their `build` directories automatically ignored.
+
+It's yet to be seen if this is a good idea.
+
 ### browser
 
 * Default: OS X: `"open"`, others: `"google-chrome"`
diff --git a/lib/cache.js b/lib/cache.js
index f3196b0ad01..0a1f9848187 100644
--- a/lib/cache.js
+++ b/lib/cache.js
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ function read (name, ver, cb) {
     if (data) deprCheck(data)
     return cb(er, data)
   }
+
   if (npm.config.get("force") || process.platform === "cygwin") {
     log.verbose(true, "force found, skipping cache")
     return addNamed(name, ver, c)
@@ -110,6 +111,7 @@ function read (name, ver, cb) {
   if (name+"@"+ver in cacheSeen) {
     return cb(null, cacheSeen[name+"@"+ver])
   }
+
   readJson(jsonFile, function (er, data) {
     if (er) return addNamed(name, ver, c)
     deprCheck(data)
@@ -281,20 +283,38 @@ function addNameVersion (name, ver, cb) {
   registry.get(name, ver, function (er, data, json, response) {
     if (er) return cb(er)
     deprCheck(data)
-    if (!data.dist || !data.dist.tarball) return cb(new Error(
-      "No dist.tarball in package data"))
+    var dist = data.dist
+
+    if (!dist) return cb(new Error("No dist in "+data._id+" package"))
+
+    var bd = npm.config.get("bindist")
+      , b = dist.bin && bd && dist.bin[bd]
+    log.verbose([bd, dist], "bin dist")
+    if (b && b.tarball && b.shasum) {
+      log.info(data._id, "prebuilt")
+      log.verbose(b, "prebuilt "+data._id)
+      dist = b
+    }
+
+    if (!dist.tarball) return cb(new Error(
+      "No dist.tarball in " + data._id + " package"))
+
     if (response.statusCode !== 304 || npm.config.get("force")
         || process.platform === "cygwin") {
       return fetchit()
     }
+
     // we got cached data, so let's see if we have a tarball.
     fs.stat(path.join(npm.cache, name, ver, "package.tgz"), function (er, s) {
       if (!er) return cb(null, data)
       else return fetchit()
     })
+
     function fetchit () {
-      return addRemoteTarball( data.dist.tarball.replace(/^https/,'http')
-                             , data.dist.shasum, name+"-"+ver, cb)
+      return addRemoteTarball( dist.tarball.replace(/^https/,'http')
+                             , dist.shasum
+                             , name+"-"+ver
+                             , cb )
     }
   })
 }
@@ -438,8 +458,16 @@ function addTmpTarball (tgz, name, cb) {
 }
 
 function unpack (pkg, ver, unpackTarget, dMode, fMode, uid, gid, cb) {
+  if (typeof cb !== "function") cb = gid, gid = null
+  if (typeof cb !== "function") cb = uid, uid = null
+  if (typeof cb !== "function") cb = fMode, fMode = null
+  if (typeof cb !== "function") cb = dMode, dMode = null
+
   read(pkg, ver, function (er, data) {
-    if (er) return log.er(cb, "Could not read data for "+pkg+"@"+ver)(er)
+    if (er) {
+      log.error("Could not read data for "+pkg+"@"+ver)
+      return cb(er)
+    }
     tar.unpack( path.join(npm.cache, pkg, ver, "package.tgz")
              , unpackTarget
              , dMode, fMode
diff --git a/lib/completion.js b/lib/completion.js
index f56a9b15bbd..dbcdc55ff7c 100644
--- a/lib/completion.js
+++ b/lib/completion.js
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ var output = require("./utils/output")
   , configDefs = require("./utils/config-defs")
   , configTypes = configDefs.types
   , shorthands = configDefs.shorthands
-  , optparse = require("optparse")
+  , nopt = require("nopt")
   , configNames = Object.keys(configTypes).filter(function (e) {
       return e.charAt(0) !== "_"
     })
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ function completion (args, cb) {
   // don't have to worry about the last arg being implicitly
   // boolean'ed, since the last block will catch that.
   var parsed = opts.conf =
-    optparse(configTypes, shorthands, partialWords.slice(0, -1), 0)
+    nopt(configTypes, shorthands, partialWords.slice(0, -1), 0)
   // check if there's a command already.
   console.error(parsed)
   var cmd = parsed.argv.remain[1]
diff --git a/lib/publish.js b/lib/publish.js
index e590bbb0c7e..86aebd0a9ea 100644
--- a/lib/publish.js
+++ b/lib/publish.js
@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@ module.exports = publish
 var npm = require("../npm")
   , registry = require("./utils/npm-registry-client")
   , log = require("./utils/log")
+  , tar = require("./utils/tar")
+  , sha = require("./utils/sha")
+  , path = require("path")
+  , readJson = require("./utils/read-json")
+  , fs = require("fs")
 
 publish.usage = "npm publish <tarball>"
               + "\nnpm publish <folder>"
@@ -28,16 +33,84 @@ function publish (args, isRetry, cb) {
     if (data.private) return cb(new Error
       ("This package has been marked as private\n"
       +"Remove the 'private' field from the package.json to publish it."))
-    registry.publish(data, function (er) {
-      if (er && er.errno === npm.EPUBLISHCONFLICT
-          && npm.config.get("force") && !isRetry) {
-        log.warn("Forced publish over "+data._id, "publish")
-        return npm.commands.unpublish([data._id], function (er) {
-          // ignore errors.  Use the force.  Reach out with your feelings.
-          publish(args, true, cb)
-        })
+
+    // pre-build
+    var bd = data.scripts
+             && ( data.scripts.preinstall
+               || data.scripts.install
+               || data.scripts.postinstall )
+             && npm.config.get("bindist")
+    preBuild(data, bd, function (er, tb) {
+      if (er) return cb(er)
+      return regPublish(data, tb, isRetry, args, cb)
+    })
+  })
+}
+
+function preBuild (data, bd, cb) {
+  if (!bd) return cb()
+  // unpack to cache/n/v/build
+  // build there
+  // pack to cache/package-<bd>.tgz
+  var cf = path.resolve(npm.cache, data.name, data.version)
+  var pb = path.resolve(cf, "build")
+    , tb = path.resolve(cf, "package-"+bd+".tgz")
+
+  log.verbose("about to cache unpack")
+  npm.commands.cache.unpack(data.name, data.version, pb, function (er) {
+    log.verbose("back from cache unpack")
+    if (er) return cb(er)
+    npm.commands.build([pb], function (er) {
+      log.info(data._id, "prebuild done")
+      // build failure just means that we can't prebuild
+      if (er) {
+        log.warn(er.message, "prebuild failed "+bd)
+        return cb()
       }
-      cb(er)
+      // now strip the preinstall/install scripts
+      // they've already been run.
+      var pbj = path.resolve(pb, "package.json")
+      readJson(pbj, function (er, pbo) {
+        if (er) return cb(er)
+        if (pbo.scripts) {
+          delete pbo.scripts.preinstall
+          delete pbo.scripts.install
+          delete pbo.scripts.postinstall
+        }
+        pbo.prebuilt = bd
+        pbo.files = pbo.files || []
+        pbo.files.push("build")
+        fs.writeFile(pbj, JSON.stringify(pbo, null, 2), function (er) {
+          if (er) return cb(er)
+          tar.pack(tb, pb, pbo, false, function (er) {
+            if (er) return cb(er)
+            // try to validate the shasum, too
+            sha.get(tb, function (er, shasum) {
+              if (er) return cb(er)
+              // binary distribution requires shasum checking.
+              if (!shasum) return cb()
+              data.dist.bin = data.dist.bin || {}
+              data.dist.bin[bd] = data.dist.bin[bd] || {}
+              data.dist.bin[bd].shasum = shasum
+              return cb(null, tb)
+            })
+          })
+        })
+      })
     })
   })
 }
+
+function regPublish (data, prebuilt, isRetry, args, cb) {
+  registry.publish(data, prebuilt, function (er) {
+    if (er && er.errno === npm.EPUBLISHCONFLICT
+        && npm.config.get("force") && !isRetry) {
+      log.warn("Forced publish over "+data._id, "publish")
+      return npm.commands.unpublish([data._id], function (er) {
+        // ignore errors.  Use the force.  Reach out with your feelings.
+        publish(args, true, cb)
+      })
+    }
+    cb(er)
+  })
+}
diff --git a/lib/utils/config-defs.js b/lib/utils/config-defs.js
index 407ce41b76d..2eaca4872ab 100644
--- a/lib/utils/config-defs.js
+++ b/lib/utils/config-defs.js
@@ -5,9 +5,17 @@ var path = require("path")
   , stdio = process.binding("stdio")
   , url = require("url")
   , Stream = require("stream").Stream
+  , semver = require("semver")
+  , stableFamily = semver.parse(process.version)
+  , os = require("os")
+
+if (!stableFamily || (+stableFamily[2] % 2)) stableFamily = null
+else stableFamily = stableFamily[1] + "." + stableFamily[2]
 
 exports.defaults =
   { argv : []
+  , bindist : stableFamily
+      && (stableFamily + "-" + process.platform + "-" + os.release())
     // are there others?
   , browser : process.platform === "darwin" ? "open" : "google-chrome"
   , cache : path.resolve( process.env.HOME
@@ -61,6 +69,7 @@ exports.defaults =
 
 exports.types =
   { argv : NaN
+  , bindist : [String, null]
   , browser : String
   , cache : path
   , color : ["always", Boolean]
diff --git a/lib/utils/npm-registry-client/publish.js b/lib/utils/npm-registry-client/publish.js
index 4f2249e9f7c..9a4b88a583e 100644
--- a/lib/utils/npm-registry-client/publish.js
+++ b/lib/utils/npm-registry-client/publish.js
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 
-
 module.exports = publish
 
 var request = require("./request")
@@ -13,7 +12,8 @@ var request = require("./request")
   , npm = require("../../../npm")
   , url = require("url")
 
-function publish (data, cb) {
+function publish (data, prebuilt, cb) {
+  if (typeof prebuilt === "function") cb = prebuilt, prebuilt = null
   // add the dist-url to the data, pointing at the tarball.
   // if the {name} isn't there, then create it.
   // if the {version} is already there, then fail.
@@ -34,63 +34,117 @@ function publish (data, cb) {
         }
       ]
     }
+
+  var tbName = data.name + "-" + data.version + ".tgz"
+    , bd = npm.config.get("bindist")
+    , pbName = data.name + "-" + data.version + "-" + bd + ".tgz"
+    , tbURI = data.name + "/-/" + tbName
+    , pbURI = data.name + "/-/" + pbName
+
   data._id = data.name+"@"+data.version
-  var attURI = encodeURIComponent(data.name)
-             + "/-/"
-             + encodeURIComponent(data.name)
-             + "-"
-             + encodeURIComponent(data.version)
-             + ".tgz"
   data.dist = data.dist || {}
-  data.dist.tarball = url.resolve(registry, attURI)
-                         .replace(/^https:\/\//, 'http://')
+  data.dist.tarball = url.resolve(registry, tbURI)
+                         .replace(/^https:\/\//, "http://")
+
+  if (prebuilt && bd) {
+    data.dist.bin[bd] = data.dist.bin[bd] || {}
+    data.dist.bin[bd].tarball = url.resolve(registry, pbURI)
+                                   .replace(/^https:\/\//, "http://")
+  }
+
+
+
 
   // first try to just PUT the whole fullData, and this will fail if it's
   // already there, because it'll be lacking a _rev, so couch'll bounce it.
-  PUT(encodeURIComponent(data.name), fullData, function (er, parsed, json, response) {
+  PUT(encodeURIComponent(data.name), fullData,
+      function (er, parsed, json, response) {
     // get the rev and then upload the attachment
     // a 409 is expected here, if this is a new version of an existing package.
     if (er
         && !(response && response.statusCode === 409)
         && !( parsed
-            && parsed.reason === "must supply latest _rev to update existing package"
-            )
-    ) {
-      return log.er(cb, "Failed PUT response "+(response && response.statusCode))(er)
+            && parsed.reason ===
+              "must supply latest _rev to update existing package" )) {
+      return log.er(cb, "Failed PUT response "
+                   +(response && response.statusCode))(er)
     }
-    var dataURI = encodeURIComponent(data.name)+"/"+encodeURIComponent(data.version)
+    var dataURI = encodeURIComponent(data.name)
+                + "/" + encodeURIComponent(data.version)
 
     var tag = data.tag || npm.config.get("tag")
     if (npm.config.get("pre")) dataURI += "/-pre/true"
     else if (tag) dataURI += "/-tag/" + tag
     else dataURI += "/-tag/latest"
 
-    PUT(dataURI, data, function (er) {
-      if (er) {
-        if (er.message.indexOf("conflict Document update conflict.") === 0) {
-          var e = new Error("publish fail")
-          e.errno = npm.EPUBLISHCONFLICT
-          e.pkgid = data._id
-          return cb(e)
-        }
-        return log.er(cb, "Error sending version data")(er)
+    // let's see what verions are already published.
+    // could be that we just need to update the bin dist values.
+    GET(data.name, function (er, fullData) {
+      if (er) return cb(er)
+
+      var exists = fullData.versions && fullData.versions[data.version]
+      if (exists) {
+        log(exists._id, "Already published")
+        var ebin = exists.dist.bin || {}
+          , nbin = data.dist.bin || {}
+          , needs = Object.keys(nbin).filter(function (bd) {
+              return !ebin.hasOwnProperty(bd)
+            })
+        log.verbose(needs, "uploading bin dists")
+        if (!needs.length) return cb(conflictError(data._id))
+        // attach the needed bindists, upload the new metadata
+        exists.dist.bin = ebin
+        needs.forEach(function (bd) { exists.dist.bin[bd] = nbin[bd] })
+        return PUT(dataURI + "/-rev/" + fullData._rev, exists, function (er) {
+          if (er) return cb(er)
+          attach(data.name, prebuilt, pbName, cb)
+        })
       }
-      GET(encodeURIComponent(data.name), function (er, d) {
-        if (er) return cb(er)
-        var rev = d && ("-rev/"+d._rev)
-          , tarball = path.join(npm.cache, data.name, data.version, "package.tgz")
-        log.verbose(tarball, "tarball")
-        attURI += "/" + rev
-        upload(attURI, tarball, function (er) {
-          log("uploaded", "publish")
-          if (er) log.error("Couldn't send tarball", "publish fail")
-          rollbackFailure(data, cb)(er)
+
+      PUT(dataURI, data, function (er) {
+        if (er) {
+          if (er.message.indexOf("conflict Document update conflict.") === 0) {
+            return cb(conflictError(data._id))
+          }
+          return log.er(cb, "Error sending version data")(er)
+        }
+
+        var c = path.resolve(npm.cache, data.name, data.version)
+          , tb = path.resolve(c, "package.tgz")
+
+        cb = rollbackFailure(data, cb)
+
+        log.verbose([data.name, tb, tbName], "attach 2")
+        attach(data.name, tb, tbName, function (er) {
+          log.verbose([er, data.name, prebuilt, pbName], "attach 3")
+          if (er || !prebuilt) return cb(er)
+          attach(data.name, prebuilt, pbName, cb)
         })
       })
     })
   })
 }
 
+function conflictError (pkgid) {
+  var e = new Error("publish fail")
+  e.errno = npm.EPUBLISHCONFLICT
+  e.pkgid = pkgid
+  return e
+}
+
+function attach (doc, file, filename, cb) {
+  doc = encodeURIComponent(doc)
+  GET(doc, function (er, d) {
+    if (er) return cb(er)
+    if (!d) return cb(new Error(
+      "Attempting to upload to invalid doc "+doc))
+    var rev = "-rev/"+d._rev
+      , attURI = doc + "/-/" + encodeURIComponent(filename) + "/" + rev
+    log.verbose([attURI, file], "uploading")
+    upload(attURI, file, cb)
+  })
+}
+
 function rollbackFailure (data, cb) { return function (er) {
   if (!er) return cb()
   npm.ROLLBACK = true
@@ -99,7 +153,8 @@ function rollbackFailure (data, cb) { return function (er) {
   npm.commands.unpublish([data.name+"@"+data.version], function (er_) {
     if (er_) {
       log.error(er_, "rollback failed")
-      log.error("Invalid data in registry! Please report this.", "rollback failed")
+      log.error( "Invalid data in registry! Please report this."
+               , "rollback failed" )
     } else log("rolled back", "publish failed")
     cb(er)
   })
diff --git a/lib/utils/npm-registry-client/request.js b/lib/utils/npm-registry-client/request.js
index 4112a6d526a..01cecc58508 100644
--- a/lib/utils/npm-registry-client/request.js
+++ b/lib/utils/npm-registry-client/request.js
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ var npm = require("../../../npm")
   , rm = require("../rm-rf")
   , asyncMap = require("../async-map")
   , proxyify = require("../proxyify")
+  , warnedAuth = false
 
 function request (method, where, what, etag, nofollow, cb_) {
   log.verbose(where||"/", method)
@@ -65,7 +66,7 @@ function request (method, where, what, etag, nofollow, cb_) {
     , hostname = remote.hostname
     , auth = authRequired && npm.config.get("_auth")
 
-  log.verbose(remote, "url parsed "+where)
+  log.verbose(remote, "url parsed")
   if (port !== (secure ? 443 : 80)) hostname += ":" + port
 
   if (authRequired && !auth) {
@@ -73,7 +74,8 @@ function request (method, where, what, etag, nofollow, cb_) {
       "Cannot insert data into the registry without authorization\n"
       + "See: npm-adduser(1)"))
   }
-  if (auth && !secure) {
+  if (auth && !secure && !warnedAuth) {
+    warnedAuth = true
     log.warn("Sending authorization over insecure channel.")
   }
   var headers = { "accept" : "application/json" }
@@ -246,7 +248,9 @@ function PUT (where, what, etag, nofollow, cb) {
 }
 
 function upload (where, filename, etag, nofollow, cb) {
+  if (typeof nofollow === "function") cb = nofollow, nofollow = false
   if (typeof etag === "function") cb = etag, etag = null
+
   new File(filename, function (er, f) {
     if (er) return log.er(cb, "Couldn't open "+filename)(er)
     PUT(where, f, etag, nofollow, function (er) {
@@ -260,6 +264,7 @@ function File (name, cb) {
   var f = this
   f.name = name
   if (f.loaded) return cb(null, f)
+  log.info(f.name, "stat")
   fs.stat(f.name, function (er, stat) {
     if (er) return log.er(cb, "doesn't exist "+f.name)(er)
     log.silly(stat, "stat "+name)
diff --git a/lib/utils/npm-registry-client/unpublish.js b/lib/utils/npm-registry-client/unpublish.js
index 9a0363db708..837459fb0ab 100644
--- a/lib/utils/npm-registry-client/unpublish.js
+++ b/lib/utils/npm-registry-client/unpublish.js
@@ -11,11 +11,14 @@ var request = require("./request")
   , log = require("../log")
   , get = require("./get")
   , semver = require("semver")
+  , url = require("url")
+  , chain = require("../chain")
 
 function unpublish (name, ver, cb) {
   if (!cb) cb = ver, ver = null
   if (!cb) throw new Error(
     "Not enough arguments for registry unpublish")
+
   get(name, null, -1, true, function (er, data) {
     if (er) return log(name+" not published", "unpublish", cb)
     // remove all if no version specified
@@ -23,46 +26,73 @@ function unpublish (name, ver, cb) {
       log("No version specified, removing all", "unpublish")
       return request("DELETE", name+'/-rev/'+data._rev, cb)
     }
+
     var versions = data.versions || {}
       , versionPublic = versions.hasOwnProperty(ver)
+
     if (!versionPublic) log(name+"@"+ver+" not published", "unpublish")
+    else {
+      var dist = versions[ver].dist
+      log.verbose(dist, "removing attachments")
+    }
+
     delete versions[ver]
     // if it was the only version, then delete the whole package.
     if (!Object.keys(versions).length) {
       log("No versions remain, removing entire package", "unpublish")
-      return request("DELETE", name+'/-rev/'+data._rev, cb)
+      return request("DELETE", name+"/-rev/"+data._rev, cb)
     }
+
     if (!versionPublic) return cb()
+
     var latestVer = data["dist-tags"].latest
     for (var tag in data["dist-tags"]) {
       if (data["dist-tags"][tag] === ver) delete data["dist-tags"][tag]
     }
+
     if (latestVer === ver) {
       data["dist-tags"].latest =
         Object.getOwnPropertyNames(versions).sort(semver.compare).pop()
     }
+
     var rev = data._rev
     delete data._revisions
     delete data._attachments
     // log(data._rev, "rev")
     request.PUT(name+"/-rev/"+rev, data,
-      log.er(detacher(data, ver, cb), "Failed to update the data"))
+      log.er(detacher(data, dist, cb), "Failed to update the data"))
   })
 }
-function detacher (data, version, cb) { return function (er) {
+
+function detacher (data, dist, cb) { return function (er) {
   if (er) return cb(er)
   get(data.name, function (er, data) {
     if (er) return cb(er)
 
-    // delete the attachment
-    var attpref = encodeURIComponent(data.name)
-                + "/-/"
-                + encodeURIComponent(data.name)
-      , attsuff = encodeURIComponent(version)
-                + ".tgz"
-                + "/-rev/"
-                + encodeURIComponent(data._rev)
-      , attURI = attpref + "-" + attsuff
-    request("DELETE", attURI, cb)
+    var tb = url.parse(dist.tarball)
+
+    detach(data, tb.pathname, data._rev, function (er) {
+      if (er || !dist.bin) return cb(er)
+      chain(Object.keys(dist.bin).map(function (bt) {
+        return function (cb) {
+          var d = dist.bin[bt]
+          detach(data, url.parse(d.tarball).pathname, null, cb)
+        }
+      }).concat(cb))
+    })
   })
 }}
+
+function detach (data, path, rev, cb) {
+  if (rev) {
+    path += "/-rev/" + rev
+    log(path, "detach")
+    return request("DELETE", path, cb)
+  }
+  get(data.name, function (er, data) {
+    rev = data._rev
+    if (!rev) return cb(new Error(
+      "No _rev found in "+data._id))
+    detach(data, path, rev, cb)
+  })
+}
diff --git a/lib/utils/read-json.js b/lib/utils/read-json.js
index 2696e0dcd50..493aa034567 100644
--- a/lib/utils/read-json.js
+++ b/lib/utils/read-json.js
@@ -187,7 +187,8 @@ function processObject (opts, cb) { return function (er, json) {
     })
   }
 
-  if (opts.wscript) {
+  if (opts.wscript && !json.prebuilt) {
+    log.verbose([json.prebuilt, opts], "has wscript")
     var scripts = json.scripts = json.scripts || {}
     if (!scripts.install && !scripts.preinstall) {
       // don't fail if it was unexpected, just try.
diff --git a/lib/utils/sha.js b/lib/utils/sha.js
index 59b739f1227..3c98a905964 100644
--- a/lib/utils/sha.js
+++ b/lib/utils/sha.js
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ function get (file, cb) {
     log.warn("crypto binding not found. Cannot verify shasum.", "shasum")
     return cb()
   }
-  log(file, "calculating sha1")
   var h = crypto.createHash("sha1")
     , s = fs.createReadStream(file)
     , errState = null
@@ -46,7 +45,7 @@ function get (file, cb) {
   }).on("end", function () {
     if (errState) return
     var actual = h.digest("hex").toLowerCase().trim()
-    log(actual, "shasum")
+    log(actual+"\n"+file, "shasum")
     cb(null, actual)
   })
 }
diff --git a/man1/config.1 b/man1/config.1
index ac266ca319c..741c0697112 100644
--- a/man1/config.1
+++ b/man1/config.1
@@ -235,6 +235,29 @@ npm config set foo:port 80
 .
 .SH "Config Settings"
 .
+.SS "bindist"
+.
+.IP "\(bu" 4
+Default: Unstable node versions, \fBnull\fR, otherwise \fB"<node version>\-<platform>\-<os release>"\fR
+.
+.IP "\(bu" 4
+Type: String or \fBnull\fR
+.
+.IP "" 0
+.
+.P
+Experimental: on stable versions of node, binary distributions will be
+created with this tag\.  If a user then installs that package, and their \fBbindist\fR tag is found in the list of binary distributions, they will
+get that prebuilt version\.
+.
+.P
+Pre\-build node packages have their preinstall, install, and postinstall
+scripts stripped (since they are run prior to publishing), and do not
+have their \fBbuild\fR directories automatically ignored\.
+.
+.P
+It\'s yet to be seen if this is a good idea\.
+.
 .SS "browser"
 .
 .IP "\(bu" 4
diff --git a/man1/get.1 b/man1/get.1
index ac266ca319c..741c0697112 100644
--- a/man1/get.1
+++ b/man1/get.1
@@ -235,6 +235,29 @@ npm config set foo:port 80
 .
 .SH "Config Settings"
 .
+.SS "bindist"
+.
+.IP "\(bu" 4
+Default: Unstable node versions, \fBnull\fR, otherwise \fB"<node version>\-<platform>\-<os release>"\fR
+.
+.IP "\(bu" 4
+Type: String or \fBnull\fR
+.
+.IP "" 0
+.
+.P
+Experimental: on stable versions of node, binary distributions will be
+created with this tag\.  If a user then installs that package, and their \fBbindist\fR tag is found in the list of binary distributions, they will
+get that prebuilt version\.
+.
+.P
+Pre\-build node packages have their preinstall, install, and postinstall
+scripts stripped (since they are run prior to publishing), and do not
+have their \fBbuild\fR directories automatically ignored\.
+.
+.P
+It\'s yet to be seen if this is a good idea\.
+.
 .SS "browser"
 .
 .IP "\(bu" 4
diff --git a/man1/set.1 b/man1/set.1
index ac266ca319c..741c0697112 100644
--- a/man1/set.1
+++ b/man1/set.1
@@ -235,6 +235,29 @@ npm config set foo:port 80
 .
 .SH "Config Settings"
 .
+.SS "bindist"
+.
+.IP "\(bu" 4
+Default: Unstable node versions, \fBnull\fR, otherwise \fB"<node version>\-<platform>\-<os release>"\fR
+.
+.IP "\(bu" 4
+Type: String or \fBnull\fR
+.
+.IP "" 0
+.
+.P
+Experimental: on stable versions of node, binary distributions will be
+created with this tag\.  If a user then installs that package, and their \fBbindist\fR tag is found in the list of binary distributions, they will
+get that prebuilt version\.
+.
+.P
+Pre\-build node packages have their preinstall, install, and postinstall
+scripts stripped (since they are run prior to publishing), and do not
+have their \fBbuild\fR directories automatically ignored\.
+.
+.P
+It\'s yet to be seen if this is a good idea\.
+.
 .SS "browser"
 .
 .IP "\(bu" 4
diff --git a/node_modules/nopt b/node_modules/nopt
new file mode 160000
index 00000000000..49c1a2c986f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/node_modules/nopt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 49c1a2c986fdceb020e0ff70e59886a5073b229b
diff --git a/node_modules/optparse b/node_modules/optparse
deleted file mode 160000
index c20aeedc553..00000000000
--- a/node_modules/optparse
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit c20aeedc5536f5bd71283b4b719a3417f3273f4b
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 7377aa4638a..431f56daa54 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -49,8 +49,8 @@
                   }
 , "main" : "npm"
 , "bin" : "./bin/npm.js"
-, "dependencies" : { "semver" : "1", "abbrev" : "1", "optparse" : "1" }
-, "bundleDependencies" : [ "semver", "abbrev", "optparse" ]
+, "dependencies" : { "semver" : "1", "abbrev" : "1", "nopt" : "1" }
+, "bundleDependencies" : [ "semver", "abbrev", "nopt" ]
 , "devDependencies" : { "ronn" : "" }
 , "engines" : { "node" : "0.4 || 0.5", "npm" : "1" }
 , "scripts" : { "test" : "make test"