diff --git a/make-deb.sh b/make-deb.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..edb3e98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/make-deb.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+set -eu
+
+PRJ_ROOT=$(dirname $(cd "$(dirname $0)"; pwd))
+#ARCHITECTURES="i386 ia64 alpha amd64 armeb arm hppa m32r m68k mips mipsel powerpc ppc64 s390 s390x sh3 sh3eb sh4 sh4eb sparc"
+ARCHITECTURES="i386"
+PREFIX=ezmlm-web
+
+
+get_debian_version()
+# compare the given version with the one from debian/changelog
+{
+	head -1 "$SRC_DIR/debian/changelog" | cut -f 2 -d "(" | cut -f 1 -d "-"
+}
+
+set_package_version()
+# set the version attribute in ezmlm-web.cgi
+{
+	sed -i "s/^\$VERSION = '.*$/\$VERSION = '$1';/" "$SRC_DIR/ezmlm-web.cgi"
+}
+
+[ $# -lt 1 -o $# -gt 2 ] && echo "Syntax: `basename $0` VERSION {PATH}" && echo && exit 1
+REL_SRC_DIR=${PREFIX}-${1}
+[ $# -eq 2 ] && REL_SRC_DIR=$2
+SRC_DIR=$(cd "$(pwd)/$REL_SRC_DIR"; pwd)
+[ ! -d "$SRC_DIR" ] && echo "the directory '$REL_SRC_DIR' does not exist!" && exit 2
+
+deb_version=$(get_debian_version)
+if test "$1" = "$deb_version"
+  then	true
+  else	echo "The version number you specified ($1) was not equal to the current debian changelog version ($deb_version)!"
+	echo "Run 'debchange -i' to create a new changelog entry."
+	echo
+	exit 3
+ fi
+
+set_package_version "$1"
+
+# create the tar file
+"$(dirname $0)/make-tar.sh" "$@"
+
+TAR_FILE=$PRJ_ROOT/tags/packages/${PREFIX}-${1}.tar.gz
+DEB_DIR=$(dirname "$TAR_FILE")/debian
+
+TMP_DIR=/tmp/builddir-$PREFIX-$$
+
+mkdir -p "$TMP_DIR"
+cd "$TMP_DIR"
+NEW_TAR_FILE=${PREFIX}_${1}.orig.tar.gz
+cp "$TAR_FILE" "$NEW_TAR_FILE"
+tar xzf "$TAR_FILE"
+cd "$PREFIX-$1"
+svn export "$SRC_DIR/debian" debian
+
+# problem: the orig tarball is being rebuild again and again - so it is always different
+for arch in $ARCHITECTURES
+  do	dpkg-buildpackage -tc -us -uc -rfakeroot -a$arch
+  #do	debuild -us -uc -a$arch
+ done
+
+mkdir -p "$DEB_DIR"
+for a in "$TMP_DIR"/${PREFIX}*
+  do	test -f "$a" && mv "$a" "$DEB_DIR/"
+ done
+
diff --git a/make-tar.sh b/make-tar.sh
index 8bbd7ce..ac03dac 100755
--- a/make-tar.sh
+++ b/make-tar.sh
@@ -2,14 +2,25 @@
 
 set -eu
 
+PRJ_ROOT=$(dirname $(cd "$(dirname $0)"; pwd))
 PREFIX=ezmlm-web
 
-[ $# -ne 1 ] && echo "Syntax: `basename $0` VERSION" && echo && exit 1
-[ ! -d "${PREFIX}-${1}" ] && echo "the directory '${PREFIX}-${1}' does not exist!" && exit 2
+[ $# -lt 1 -o $# -gt 2 ] && echo "Syntax: `basename $0` VERSION" && echo && exit 1
+REL_SRC_DIR=${PREFIX}-${1}
+[ $# -eq 2 ] && REL_SRC_DIR=$2
+SRC_DIR=$(cd "$(pwd)/$REL_SRC_DIR"; pwd)
+[ ! -d "$SRC_DIR" ] && echo "the directory '$REL_SRC_DIR' does not exist!" && exit 2
+
+TAR_FILE=$PRJ_ROOT/tags/packages/${PREFIX}-${1}.tar.gz
 
 TMP_DIR=/tmp/${PREFIX}-${1}
 [ -e "$TMP_DIR" ] && rm -rf "$TMP_DIR"
 
-svn export "${PREFIX}-${1}" "$TMP_DIR"
-tar czf "packages/${PREFIX}-${1}.tar.gz" -C "$(dirname $TMP_DIR)" --exclude debian --owner=0 --group=0 "$(basename $TMP_DIR)"
+svn export "$SRC_DIR" "$TMP_DIR"
+
+# update language files
+"$TMP_DIR/scripts/update_language_files.py"
+
+tar czf "$PRJ_ROOT/tags/packages/${PREFIX}-${1}.tar.gz" -C "$(dirname $TMP_DIR)" --exclude-from="$SRC_DIR/package.exclude" --owner=0 --group=0 "$(basename $TMP_DIR)"
 rm -rf "$TMP_DIR"
+