diff --git a/bin/git-new-workdir b/bin/git-new-workdir
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..3ad2c0cea563
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/git-new-workdir
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+usage () {
+	echo "usage:" $@
+	exit 127
+}
+
+die () {
+	echo $@
+	exit 128
+}
+
+if test $# -lt 2 || test $# -gt 3
+then
+	usage "$0 <repository> <new_workdir> [<branch>]"
+fi
+
+orig_git=$1
+new_workdir=$2
+branch=$3
+
+# want to make sure that what is pointed to has a .git directory ...
+git_dir=$(cd "$orig_git" 2>/dev/null &&
+  git rev-parse --git-dir 2>/dev/null) ||
+  die "Not a git repository: \"$orig_git\""
+
+case "$git_dir" in
+.git)
+	git_dir="$orig_git/.git"
+	;;
+.)
+	git_dir=$orig_git
+	;;
+esac
+
+# don't link to a configured bare repository
+isbare=$(git --git-dir="$git_dir" config --bool --get core.bare)
+if test ztrue = z$isbare
+then
+	die "\"$git_dir\" has core.bare set to true," \
+		" remove from \"$git_dir/config\" to use $0"
+fi
+
+# don't link to a workdir
+if test -L "$git_dir/config"
+then
+	die "\"$orig_git\" is a working directory only, please specify" \
+		"a complete repository."
+fi
+
+# don't recreate a workdir over an existing repository
+if test -e "$new_workdir"
+then
+	die "destination directory '$new_workdir' already exists."
+fi
+
+# make sure the links use full paths
+git_dir=$(cd "$git_dir"; pwd)
+
+# create the workdir
+mkdir -p "$new_workdir/.git" || die "unable to create \"$new_workdir\"!"
+
+# create the links to the original repo.  explicitly exclude index, HEAD and
+# logs/HEAD from the list since they are purely related to the current working
+# directory, and should not be shared.
+for x in config refs logs/refs objects info hooks packed-refs remotes rr-cache svn
+do
+	case $x in
+	*/*)
+		mkdir -p "$(dirname "$new_workdir/.git/$x")"
+		;;
+	esac
+	ln -s "$git_dir/$x" "$new_workdir/.git/$x"
+done
+
+# now setup the workdir
+cd "$new_workdir"
+# copy the HEAD from the original repository as a default branch
+cp "$git_dir/HEAD" .git/HEAD
+# checkout the branch (either the same as HEAD from the original repository, or
+# the one that was asked for)
+git checkout -f $branch
diff --git a/bin/git-ps1 b/bin/git-ps1
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..8a0980091163
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/git-ps1
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+r=
+b=
+g="$(git rev-parse --git-dir 2>/dev/null)"
+
+if [ -n "$g" ]; then
+    if [ -d "$g/../.dotest" ]
+        then
+        if test -f "$g/../.dotest/rebasing"
+            then
+            r="|REBASE"
+        elif test -f "$g/../.dotest/applying"
+            then
+            r="|AM"
+        else
+            r="|AM/REBASE"
+        fi
+        b="$(git symbolic-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null)"
+    elif [ -f "$g/.dotest-merge/interactive" ]
+        then
+        r="|REBASE-i"
+        b="$(cat "$g/.dotest-merge/head-name")"
+    elif [ -d "$g/.dotest-merge" ]
+        then
+        r="|REBASE-m"
+        b="$(cat "$g/.dotest-merge/head-name")"
+    elif [ -f "$g/MERGE_HEAD" ]
+        then
+        r="|MERGING"
+        b="$(git symbolic-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null)"
+    else
+        if [ -f "$g/BISECT_LOG" ]
+            then
+            r="|BISECTING"
+        fi
+        if ! b="$(git symbolic-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null)"
+            then
+            if ! b="$(git describe --exact-match HEAD 2>/dev/null)"
+                then
+                b="$(cut -c1-7 "$g/HEAD")..."
+            fi
+        fi
+    fi
+
+    if [ -n "$1" ]; then
+        printf "$1" "${b##refs/heads/}$r"
+    else
+        printf "%s" "${b##refs/heads/}$r"
+    fi
+else
+    printf "not-in-git"
+fi
diff --git a/bin/mkworkdir b/bin/mkworkdir
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..10630f83062e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/mkworkdir
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+BASEDIR=$(dirname $0)
+GIT_NEW_WORKDIR=`which git-new-workdir 2>/dev/null`
+if [ -z $GIT_NEW_WORKDIR ] ; then
+   GIT_NEW_WORKDIR="$BASEDIR/git-new-workdir"
+fi
+
+print_help() {
+    echo "Usage: $1 [-s | --source bootstrap_reference_repo_path] [ -d | --workdir-base-path path] [ --as alias_name] [branch name]"
+    echo "--source is optional if you are currently in a bootstrap git repository, in which case that repository is used as source"
+    echo "--workdir-base-path is optional if you have defined LO_BASE_WORKDIR in your environement"
+    echo "--as is the name of the directory that will be the bootstrap of your new workdir ensemble. the default is the branch name used to create the workdir"
+    echo "the branch name is optional, the default is 'master'"
+}
+
+die() {
+    echo $1
+    exit 1
+}
+
+BOOTSTRAP_DIR=
+DEST_DIR=${LO_BASE_WORKDIR:-}
+BRANCH="master"
+
+while [ "${1:-}" != "" ] ; do
+      case $1 in
+	  -s | --source )
+	      shift
+	      BOOTSTRAP_DIR="$1"
+	      ;;
+	  -d | --workdir-base-path )
+	      shift
+	      DEST_DIR="$1"
+	      ;;
+	  --as )
+	      shift
+	      WKDIR_NAME="$1"
+	      ;;
+	  -h | --help )
+	      print_help $0
+	      exit 0
+	      ;;
+	  -* )
+	      die "invalid option $1"
+	      ;;
+	  *)
+	      if [ -z "$BRANCH" ] ; then
+		  BRANCH="$1"
+	      else
+		  die "Too many arguments"
+	      fi
+	      ;;
+      esac
+      shift
+done
+
+
+if [ -z "$BOOTSTRAP_DIR" ]; then
+    BOOTSTRAP_DIR=$(git rev-parse --git-dir 2>/dev/null) || die "Cannot use the current working directory as implicit source: Not a git repository"
+
+    case "$BOOTSTRAP_DIR" in
+	.git)
+	    BOOTSTRAP_DIR="$(pwd)"
+	    ;;
+	.)
+	    cd .. && BOOTSTRAP_DIR=$(pwd)
+	    ;;
+    esac
+fi
+
+if [ -z "$DEST_DIR" ]; then
+    echo "destination directory is missing."
+    print_help $0
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ -z "$WKDIR_NAME" ]; then
+    WKDIR_NAME="$BRANCH"
+fi
+
+if [ -e "$DEST_DIR/$WKDIR_NAME" ]; then
+    die "$DEST_DIR/$WKDIR_NAME already exists."
+fi
+
+echo "===== bootstrap ====="
+$GIT_NEW_WORKDIR $BOOTSTRAP_DIR "$DEST_DIR/$WKDIR_NAME" $BRANCH
+
+echo "creating directory $DEST_DIR/$WKDIR_NAME/clone"
+mkdir -p "$DEST_DIR/$WKDIR_NAME/clone" || die "failed to create $DEST_DIR/$WKDIR_NAME/clone"
+
+REPOS=$(cat ${BASEDIR}/repo-list)
+
+cd "$DEST_DIR/$WKDIR_NAME"
+
+for repo in $REPOS; do
+    repo_path="${BOOTSTRAP_DIR}/clone/$repo"
+    echo "===== $repo ====="
+    $GIT_NEW_WORKDIR $repo_path "$DEST_DIR/$WKDIR_NAME/clone/$repo" $BRANCH
+    for link in $(ls ./clone/$repo) ; do
+        if [ ! -e "$link" ] ; then
+            echo "Creating link $link"
+            ln -s "./clone/$repo/$link" "$link"
+        fi
+    done
+
+done
+
diff --git a/bin/repo-list b/bin/repo-list
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..349fb7df41a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/repo-list
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+artwork base calc components extensions extras filters help impress libs-core libs-extern libs-extern-sys libs-gui postprocess sdk testing ure writer