diff --git a/CONTRIBUTORS b/CONTRIBUTORS
index c8861486..6474b72d 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTORS
+++ b/CONTRIBUTORS
@@ -2809,6 +2809,8 @@ Christopher Reimer <reimer.christopher@freenet.de>
  for reporting a problem with external Dolby Digital processing via the '-a' option
  in live mode and with TS recordings
  for contributing to a patch that implements FHS support
+ for suggesting to remove some redundancy in the Makefile/Make.global/Make.config
+ mechanism
 
 Stefan Huskamp <coca_cola1@gmx.de>
  for suggesting to make entering characters via the number keys
diff --git a/HISTORY b/HISTORY
index 90204a83..e580ee7a 100644
--- a/HISTORY
+++ b/HISTORY
@@ -7417,7 +7417,7 @@ Video Disk Recorder Revision History
   plugins to display these items in a more elaborate way than just a simple line of
   text.
 
-2012-12-18: Version 1.7.34
+2012-12-19: Version 1.7.34
 
 - Changed the type of the TimerMatch parameter in cSkinDisplayMenu::SetItemEvent() from
   'int' to 'eTimerEvent' (reported by Christoph Haubrich).
@@ -7429,3 +7429,10 @@ Video Disk Recorder Revision History
   xgettext in several plugin Makefiles.
 - Added "-D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -D_LARGEFILE_SOURCE -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE" to the
   DEFINES in the Makefile (somehow got lost from Make.config.template in version 1.7.13).
+- Removed some redundancy in the Makefile/Make.global/Make.config mechanism (suggested
+  by Christopher Reimer). The file Make.global is no longer used, and plugin Makefiles
+  don't include the file Make.config any more. Instead they now retrieve all necessary
+  information through calls to pkg-config.
+  Plugin authors (and users) can apply the patch from
+  ftp://ftp.tvdr.de/vdr/Developer/vdr-1.7.33-pluginmakefile.diff
+  to their Makefile to make the necessary changes (see comments in that file for details).
diff --git a/Make.config.template b/Make.config.template
index 08f9ece8..3a4e3842 100644
--- a/Make.config.template
+++ b/Make.config.template
@@ -6,20 +6,16 @@
 # See the main source file 'vdr.c' for copyright information and
 # how to reach the author.
 #
-# $Id: Make.config.template 2.10 2012/10/09 10:32:32 kls Exp $
+# $Id: Make.config.template 2.11 2012/12/18 17:37:54 kls Exp $
 
 ### The C compiler and options:
 
 CC       = gcc
 CFLAGS   = -g -O3 -Wall
+CFLAGS  += -fPIC
 
 CXX      = g++
-CXXFLAGS = -g -O3 -Wall -Werror=overloaded-virtual -Wno-parentheses
-
-ifdef PLUGIN
-CFLAGS   += -fPIC
-CXXFLAGS += -fPIC
-endif
+CXXFLAGS = $(CFLAGS) -Werror=overloaded-virtual -Wno-parentheses
 
 # Use 'make M32=1 ...' to build a 32-bit version of VDR on a 64-bit machine:
 ifdef M32
@@ -35,9 +31,10 @@ MANDIR   = $(PREFIX)/man
 BINDIR   = $(PREFIX)/bin
 
 # By default locale and plugin files are built under the source directory:
-LOCDIR       = ./locale
-PLUGINDIR    = ./PLUGINS
-PLUGINLIBDIR = $(PLUGINDIR)/lib
+INCDIR       = $(CWD)/include
+LOCDIR       = $(CWD)/locale
+PLUGINDIR    = $(CWD)/PLUGINS
+LIBDIR       = $(PLUGINDIR)/lib
 # By default VDR requires only one single directory to operate:
 VIDEODIR     = /video
 # Activate the following line to build VDR according to the FHS ("File system Hierarchy Standard"):
@@ -47,8 +44,9 @@ VIDEODIR     = /srv/vdr/video
 CONFDIR      = /var/lib/vdr
 CACHEDIR     = /var/cache/vdr
 RESDIR       = $(PREFIX)/share/vdr
+INCDIR       = $(PREFIX)/include
 LOCDIR       = $(PREFIX)/share/locale
-PLUGINLIBDIR = $(PREFIX)/lib/vdr
+LIBDIR       = $(PREFIX)/lib/vdr
 endif
 
 ### The remote control:
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 682e14dc..4b86faf6 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -4,28 +4,33 @@
 # See the main source file 'vdr.c' for copyright information and
 # how to reach the author.
 #
-# $Id: Makefile 2.31 2012/12/18 13:20:17 kls Exp $
+# $Id: Makefile 2.32 2012/12/19 11:26:50 kls Exp $
 
 .DELETE_ON_ERROR:
 
 CC       ?= gcc
-CFLAGS   ?= -g -O3 -Wall
+CFLAGS   ?= -g -O3 -Wall -fPIC
+CFLAGS   += -fPIC
 
 CXX      ?= g++
-CXXFLAGS ?= -g -O3 -Wall -Werror=overloaded-virtual -Wno-parentheses
+CXXFLAGS ?= $(CFLAGS) -Werror=overloaded-virtual -Wno-parentheses
 
+CDEFINES  = -D_GNU_SOURCE
+CDEFINES  = -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -D_LARGEFILE_SOURCE -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE
+
+CWD     := $(shell pwd)
 LSIDIR   = ./libsi
 DESTDIR ?=
 PREFIX  ?= /usr/local
 MANDIR  ?= $(PREFIX)/share/man
 BINDIR  ?= $(PREFIX)/bin
-INCDIR  ?= $(PREFIX)/include
-LOCDIR  ?= ./locale
+INCDIR  ?= $(CWD)/include
+LOCDIR  ?= $(CWD)/locale
 LIBS     = -ljpeg -lpthread -ldl -lcap -lrt $(shell pkg-config --libs freetype2 fontconfig)
 INCLUDES ?= $(shell pkg-config --cflags freetype2 fontconfig)
 
-PLUGINDIR= ./PLUGINS
-PLUGINLIBDIR= $(PLUGINDIR)/lib
+PLUGINDIR= $(CWD)/PLUGINS
+LIBDIR   = $(PLUGINDIR)/lib
 
 # By default VDR requires only one single directory to operate:
 VIDEODIR     = /video
@@ -36,7 +41,6 @@ DOXYFILE = Doxyfile
 
 PCDIR   ?= $(firstword $(subst :, , ${PKG_CONFIG_PATH}:$(shell pkg-config --variable=pc_path pkg-config):$(PREFIX)/lib/pkgconfig))
 
-include Make.global
 -include Make.config
 
 SILIB    = $(LSIDIR)/libsi.a
@@ -48,6 +52,8 @@ OBJS = audio.o channels.o ci.o config.o cutter.o device.o diseqc.o dvbdevice.o d
        skinclassic.o skinlcars.o skins.o skinsttng.o sourceparams.o sources.o spu.o status.o svdrp.o themes.o thread.o\
        timers.o tools.o transfer.o vdr.o videodir.o
 
+DEFINES += $(CDEFINES)
+
 ifndef NO_KBD
 DEFINES += -DREMOTE_KBD
 endif
@@ -66,15 +72,11 @@ endif
 LIRC_DEVICE ?= /var/run/lirc/lircd
 
 DEFINES += -DLIRC_DEVICE=\"$(LIRC_DEVICE)\"
-
-DEFINES += -D_GNU_SOURCE
-DEFINES += -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -D_LARGEFILE_SOURCE -D_LARGEFILE64_SOURCE
-
 DEFINES += -DVIDEODIR=\"$(VIDEODIR)\"
 DEFINES += -DCONFDIR=\"$(CONFDIR)\"
 DEFINES += -DCACHEDIR=\"$(CACHEDIR)\"
 DEFINES += -DRESDIR=\"$(RESDIR)\"
-DEFINES += -DPLUGINDIR=\"$(PLUGINLIBDIR)\"
+DEFINES += -DPLUGINDIR=\"$(LIBDIR)\"
 DEFINES += -DLOCDIR=\"$(LOCDIR)\"
 
 # Default values for directories:
@@ -88,7 +90,7 @@ RESDIRDEF   = $(firstword $(RESDIR)   $(CONFDIRDEF))
 VDRVERSION = $(shell sed -ne '/define VDRVERSION/s/^.*"\(.*\)".*$$/\1/p' config.h)
 APIVERSION = $(shell sed -ne '/define APIVERSION/s/^.*"\(.*\)".*$$/\1/p' config.h)
 
-all: vdr i18n vdr.pc
+all: vdr i18n plugins
 
 # Implicit rules:
 
@@ -107,27 +109,28 @@ $(DEPFILE): Makefile
 # The main program:
 
 vdr: $(OBJS) $(SILIB)
-	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -rdynamic $(LDFLAGS) $(OBJS) $(LIBS) $(LIBDIRS) $(SILIB) -o vdr
+	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -rdynamic $(LDFLAGS) $(OBJS) $(LIBS) $(SILIB) -o vdr
 
 # The libsi library:
 
 $(SILIB):
-	$(MAKE) -C $(LSIDIR) all
+	$(MAKE) -C $(LSIDIR) CXXFLAGS="$(CXXFLAGS)" DEFINES="$(CDEFINES)" all
 
 # pkg-config file:
 
-vdr.pc: Makefile Make.global
+.PHONY: vdr.pc
+vdr.pc:
 	@echo "bindir=$(BINDIR)" > $@
-	@echo "includedir=$(INCDIR)" >> $@
+	@echo "incdir=$(INCDIR)" >> $@
 	@echo "configdir=$(CONFDIRDEF)" >> $@
 	@echo "videodir=$(VIDEODIR)" >> $@
 	@echo "cachedir=$(CACHEDIRDEF)" >> $@
 	@echo "resdir=$(RESDIRDEF)" >> $@
-	@echo "plugindir=$(PLUGINLIBDIR)" >> $@
-	@echo "localedir=$(LOCDIR)" >> $@
+	@echo "libdir=$(LIBDIR)" >> $@
+	@echo "locdir=$(LOCDIR)" >> $@
 	@echo "apiversion=$(APIVERSION)" >> $@
-	@echo "cflags=$(CXXFLAGS) $(DEFINES) -I\$${includedir}" >> $@
-	@echo "plugincflags=\$${cflags} -fPIC" >> $@
+	@echo "cflags=$(CFLAGS) $(CDEFINES)" >> $@
+	@echo "cxxflags=$(CXXFLAGS) $(CDEFINES)" >> $@
 	@echo "" >> $@
 	@echo "Name: VDR" >> $@
 	@echo "Description: Video Disk Recorder" >> $@
@@ -158,7 +161,7 @@ $(I18Nmsgs): $(LOCALEDIR)/%/LC_MESSAGES/vdr.mo: $(PODIR)/%.mo
 	cp $< $@
 
 .PHONY: i18n
-i18n: $(I18Nmsgs)
+i18n: $(I18Nmsgs) $(I18Npot)
 
 install-i18n:
 	@mkdir -p $(DESTDIR)$(LOCDIR)
@@ -174,7 +177,7 @@ include-dir:
 
 # Plugins:
 
-plugins: include-dir
+plugins: include-dir vdr.pc
 	@failed="";\
 	noapiv="";\
 	for i in `ls $(PLUGINDIR)/src | grep -v '[^a-z0-9]'`; do\
@@ -184,7 +187,7 @@ plugins: include-dir
 	       noapiv="$$noapiv $$i";\
 	       continue;\
 	       fi;\
-	    $(MAKE) -C "$(PLUGINDIR)/src/$$i" all || failed="$$failed $$i";\
+	    $(MAKE) -C "$(PLUGINDIR)/src/$$i" VDRDIR=$(CWD) all || failed="$$failed $$i";\
 	    done;\
 	if [ -n "$$noapiv" ] ; then echo; echo "*** plugins without APIVERSION:$$noapiv"; echo; fi;\
 	if [ -n "$$failed" ] ; then echo; echo "*** failed plugins:$$failed"; echo; exit 1; fi
@@ -226,8 +229,8 @@ install-doc:
 # Plugins:
 
 install-plugins: plugins
-	@mkdir -p $(DESTDIR)$(PLUGINLIBDIR)
-	@cp --remove-destination $(PLUGINDIR)/lib/lib*-*.so.$(APIVERSION) $(DESTDIR)$(PLUGINLIBDIR)
+	@mkdir -p $(DESTDIR)$(LIBDIR)
+	@cp --remove-destination $(PLUGINDIR)/lib/lib*-*.so.$(APIVERSION) $(DESTDIR)$(LIBDIR)
 
 # Includes:
 
@@ -254,9 +257,9 @@ srcdoc:
 # Housekeeping:
 
 clean:
-	$(MAKE) -C $(LSIDIR) clean
-	-rm -f $(OBJS) $(DEPFILE) vdr vdr.pc core* *~
-	-rm -rf $(LOCALEDIR) $(PODIR)/*.mo $(PODIR)/*.pot
-	-rm -rf include
-	-rm -rf srcdoc
+	@$(MAKE) -C $(LSIDIR) clean
+	@-rm -f $(OBJS) $(DEPFILE) vdr vdr.pc core* *~
+	@-rm -rf $(LOCALEDIR) $(PODIR)/*.mo $(PODIR)/*.pot
+	@-rm -rf include
+	@-rm -rf srcdoc
 CLEAN: clean
diff --git a/PLUGINS/src/dvbsddevice/Makefile b/PLUGINS/src/dvbsddevice/Makefile
index e218cc35..2a6b285a 100644
--- a/PLUGINS/src/dvbsddevice/Makefile
+++ b/PLUGINS/src/dvbsddevice/Makefile
@@ -1,42 +1,36 @@
 #
 # Makefile for a Video Disk Recorder plugin
 #
-# $Id: Makefile 1.10 2012/12/18 09:36:37 kls Exp $
+# $Id: Makefile 1.11 2012/12/19 11:16:48 kls Exp $
 
 # The official name of this plugin.
 # This name will be used in the '-P...' option of VDR to load the plugin.
 # By default the main source file also carries this name.
-# IMPORTANT: the presence of this macro is important for the Make.config
-# file. So it must be defined, even if it is not used here!
-#
+
 PLUGIN = dvbsddevice
 
 ### The version number of this plugin (taken from the main source file):
 
 VERSION = $(shell grep 'static const char \*VERSION *=' $(PLUGIN).c | awk '{ print $$6 }' | sed -e 's/[";]//g')
 
-### The C++ compiler and options:
-
-CXX      ?= g++
-CXXFLAGS ?= -g -O3 -Wall -Werror=overloaded-virtual -Wno-parentheses
-
 ### The directory environment:
 
-VDRDIR ?= ../../..
-LIBDIR ?= ../../lib
+# Use package data if installed...otherwise assume we're under the VDR source directory:
+PKGCFG  = $(if $(VDRDIR),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) $(VDRDIR)/vdr.pc),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) vdr || pkg-config --variable=$(1) ../../../vdr.pc))
+INCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,incdir)
+LIBDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,libdir)
+LOCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,locdir)
+#
 TMPDIR ?= /tmp
 
-### Make sure that necessary options are included:
+### The compiler options:
 
-include $(VDRDIR)/Make.global
+export CFLAGS   ?= $(call PKGCFG,cflags)
+export CXXFLAGS ?= $(call PKGCFG,cxxflags)
 
-### Allow user defined options to overwrite defaults:
+### The version number of VDR's plugin API:
 
--include $(VDRDIR)/Make.config
-
-### The version number of VDR's plugin API (taken from VDR's "config.h"):
-
-APIVERSION = $(shell sed -ne '/define APIVERSION/s/^.*"\(.*\)".*$$/\1/p' $(VDRDIR)/config.h)
+APIVERSION = $(call PKGCFG,apiversion)
 
 ### The name of the distribution archive:
 
@@ -45,9 +39,9 @@ PACKAGE = vdr-$(ARCHIVE)
 
 ### Includes and Defines (add further entries here):
 
-INCLUDES += -I$(VDRDIR)/include
+INCLUDES += -I$(INCDIR)
 
-DEFINES += -D_GNU_SOURCE -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
+DEFINES += -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
 
 ### The object files (add further files here):
 
@@ -55,7 +49,7 @@ OBJS = $(PLUGIN).o dvbsdffdevice.o dvbsdffosd.o
 
 ### The main target:
 
-all: libvdr-$(PLUGIN).so i18n
+all: libvdr-$(PLUGIN).so
 
 ### Implicit rules:
 
@@ -71,38 +65,13 @@ $(DEPFILE): Makefile
 
 -include $(DEPFILE)
 
-### Internationalization (I18N):
-
-PODIR     = po
-LOCALEDIR = $(VDRDIR)/locale
-I18Npo    = $(wildcard $(PODIR)/*.po)
-I18Nmsgs  = $(addprefix $(LOCALEDIR)/, $(addsuffix /LC_MESSAGES/vdr-$(PLUGIN).mo, $(notdir $(foreach file, $(I18Npo), $(basename $(file))))))
-I18Npot   = $(PODIR)/$(PLUGIN).pot
-
-%.mo: %.po
-	msgfmt -c -o $@ $<
-
-$(I18Npot): $(wildcard *.c)
-	xgettext -C -cTRANSLATORS --no-wrap --no-location -k -ktr -ktrNOOP --package-name=vdr-$(PLUGIN) --package-version=$(VERSION) --msgid-bugs-address='<see README>' -o $@ `ls $^`
-
-%.po: $(I18Npot)
-	msgmerge -U --no-wrap --no-location --backup=none -q $@ $<
-	@touch $@
-
-$(I18Nmsgs): $(LOCALEDIR)/%/LC_MESSAGES/vdr-$(PLUGIN).mo: $(PODIR)/%.mo
-	@mkdir -p $(dir $@)
-	cp $< $@
-
-.PHONY: i18n
-i18n: $(I18Nmsgs) $(I18Npot)
-
 ### Targets:
 
 libvdr-$(PLUGIN).so: $(OBJS)
 	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -shared $(OBJS) -o $@
 	@cp --remove-destination $@ $(LIBDIR)/$@.$(APIVERSION)
 
-dist: $(I18Npo) clean
+dist: clean
 	@-rm -rf $(TMPDIR)/$(ARCHIVE)
 	@mkdir $(TMPDIR)/$(ARCHIVE)
 	@cp -a * $(TMPDIR)/$(ARCHIVE)
diff --git a/PLUGINS/src/epgtableid0/Makefile b/PLUGINS/src/epgtableid0/Makefile
index 8745b4af..5a1da9c4 100644
--- a/PLUGINS/src/epgtableid0/Makefile
+++ b/PLUGINS/src/epgtableid0/Makefile
@@ -1,42 +1,36 @@
 #
 # Makefile for a Video Disk Recorder plugin
 #
-# $Id: Makefile 1.3 2012/12/18 09:29:44 kls Exp $
+# $Id: Makefile 1.4 2012/12/19 11:17:32 kls Exp $
 
 # The official name of this plugin.
 # This name will be used in the '-P...' option of VDR to load the plugin.
 # By default the main source file also carries this name.
-# IMPORTANT: the presence of this macro is important for the Make.config
-# file. So it must be defined, even if it is not used here!
-#
+
 PLUGIN = epgtableid0
 
 ### The version number of this plugin (taken from the main source file):
 
 VERSION = $(shell grep 'static const char \*VERSION *=' $(PLUGIN).c | awk '{ print $$6 }' | sed -e 's/[";]//g')
 
-### The C++ compiler and options:
-
-CXX      ?= g++
-CXXFLAGS ?= -g -O3 -Wall -Werror=overloaded-virtual -Wno-parentheses
-
 ### The directory environment:
 
-VDRDIR ?= ../../..
-LIBDIR ?= ../../lib
+# Use package data if installed...otherwise assume we're under the VDR source directory:
+PKGCFG  = $(if $(VDRDIR),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) $(VDRDIR)/vdr.pc),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) vdr || pkg-config --variable=$(1) ../../../vdr.pc))
+INCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,incdir)
+LIBDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,libdir)
+LOCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,locdir)
+#
 TMPDIR ?= /tmp
 
-### Make sure that necessary options are included:
+### The compiler options:
 
-include $(VDRDIR)/Make.global
+export CFLAGS   ?= $(call PKGCFG,cflags)
+export CXXFLAGS ?= $(call PKGCFG,cxxflags)
 
-### Allow user defined options to overwrite defaults:
+### The version number of VDR's plugin API:
 
--include $(VDRDIR)/Make.config
-
-### The version number of VDR's plugin API (taken from VDR's "config.h"):
-
-APIVERSION = $(shell sed -ne '/define APIVERSION/s/^.*"\(.*\)".*$$/\1/p' $(VDRDIR)/config.h)
+APIVERSION = $(call PKGCFG,apiversion)
 
 ### The name of the distribution archive:
 
@@ -45,9 +39,9 @@ PACKAGE = vdr-$(ARCHIVE)
 
 ### Includes and Defines (add further entries here):
 
-INCLUDES += -I$(VDRDIR)/include
+INCLUDES += -I$(INCDIR)
 
-DEFINES += -D_GNU_SOURCE -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
+DEFINES += -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
 
 ### The object files (add further files here):
 
@@ -55,7 +49,7 @@ OBJS = $(PLUGIN).o
 
 ### The main target:
 
-all: libvdr-$(PLUGIN).so i18n
+all: libvdr-$(PLUGIN).so
 
 ### Implicit rules:
 
@@ -71,38 +65,13 @@ $(DEPFILE): Makefile
 
 -include $(DEPFILE)
 
-### Internationalization (I18N):
-
-PODIR     = po
-LOCALEDIR = $(VDRDIR)/locale
-I18Npo    = $(wildcard $(PODIR)/*.po)
-I18Nmsgs  = $(addprefix $(LOCALEDIR)/, $(addsuffix /LC_MESSAGES/vdr-$(PLUGIN).mo, $(notdir $(foreach file, $(I18Npo), $(basename $(file))))))
-I18Npot   = $(PODIR)/$(PLUGIN).pot
-
-%.mo: %.po
-	msgfmt -c -o $@ $<
-
-$(I18Npot): $(wildcard *.c)
-	xgettext -C -cTRANSLATORS --no-wrap --no-location -k -ktr -ktrNOOP --package-name=vdr-$(PLUGIN) --package-version=$(VERSION) --msgid-bugs-address='<see README>' -o $@ `ls $^`
-
-%.po: $(I18Npot)
-	msgmerge -U --no-wrap --no-location --backup=none -q $@ $<
-	@touch $@
-
-$(I18Nmsgs): $(LOCALEDIR)/%/LC_MESSAGES/vdr-$(PLUGIN).mo: $(PODIR)/%.mo
-	@mkdir -p $(dir $@)
-	cp $< $@
-
-.PHONY: i18n
-i18n: $(I18Nmsgs) $(I18Npot)
-
 ### Targets:
 
 libvdr-$(PLUGIN).so: $(OBJS)
 	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -shared $(OBJS) -o $@
 	@cp --remove-destination $@ $(LIBDIR)/$@.$(APIVERSION)
 
-dist: $(I18Npo) clean
+dist: clean
 	@-rm -rf $(TMPDIR)/$(ARCHIVE)
 	@mkdir $(TMPDIR)/$(ARCHIVE)
 	@cp -a * $(TMPDIR)/$(ARCHIVE)
diff --git a/PLUGINS/src/hello/Makefile b/PLUGINS/src/hello/Makefile
index 4d21c984..8a3e6d53 100644
--- a/PLUGINS/src/hello/Makefile
+++ b/PLUGINS/src/hello/Makefile
@@ -1,42 +1,36 @@
 #
 # Makefile for a Video Disk Recorder plugin
 #
-# $Id: Makefile 2.10 2012/12/18 09:37:05 kls Exp $
+# $Id: Makefile 2.11 2012/12/19 12:10:07 kls Exp $
 
 # The official name of this plugin.
 # This name will be used in the '-P...' option of VDR to load the plugin.
 # By default the main source file also carries this name.
-# IMPORTANT: the presence of this macro is important for the Make.config
-# file. So it must be defined, even if it is not used here!
-#
+
 PLUGIN = hello
 
 ### The version number of this plugin (taken from the main source file):
 
 VERSION = $(shell grep 'static const char \*VERSION *=' $(PLUGIN).c | awk '{ print $$6 }' | sed -e 's/[";]//g')
 
-### The C++ compiler and options:
-
-CXX      ?= g++
-CXXFLAGS ?= -g -O3 -Wall -Werror=overloaded-virtual -Wno-parentheses
-
 ### The directory environment:
 
-VDRDIR ?= ../../..
-LIBDIR ?= ../../lib
+# Use package data if installed...otherwise assume we're under the VDR source directory:
+PKGCFG  = $(if $(VDRDIR),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) $(VDRDIR)/vdr.pc),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) vdr || pkg-config --variable=$(1) ../../../vdr.pc))
+INCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,incdir)
+LIBDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,libdir)
+LOCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,locdir)
+#
 TMPDIR ?= /tmp
 
-### Make sure that necessary options are included:
+### The compiler options:
 
-include $(VDRDIR)/Make.global
+export CFLAGS   ?= $(call PKGCFG,cflags)
+export CXXFLAGS ?= $(call PKGCFG,cxxflags)
 
-### Allow user defined options to overwrite defaults:
+### The version number of VDR's plugin API:
 
--include $(VDRDIR)/Make.config
-
-### The version number of VDR's plugin API (taken from VDR's "config.h"):
-
-APIVERSION = $(shell sed -ne '/define APIVERSION/s/^.*"\(.*\)".*$$/\1/p' $(VDRDIR)/config.h)
+APIVERSION = $(call PKGCFG,apiversion)
 
 ### The name of the distribution archive:
 
@@ -45,9 +39,9 @@ PACKAGE = vdr-$(ARCHIVE)
 
 ### Includes and Defines (add further entries here):
 
-INCLUDES += -I$(VDRDIR)/include
+INCLUDES += -I$(INCDIR)
 
-DEFINES += -D_GNU_SOURCE -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
+DEFINES += -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
 
 ### The object files (add further files here):
 
@@ -74,9 +68,8 @@ $(DEPFILE): Makefile
 ### Internationalization (I18N):
 
 PODIR     = po
-LOCALEDIR = $(VDRDIR)/locale
 I18Npo    = $(wildcard $(PODIR)/*.po)
-I18Nmsgs  = $(addprefix $(LOCALEDIR)/, $(addsuffix /LC_MESSAGES/vdr-$(PLUGIN).mo, $(notdir $(foreach file, $(I18Npo), $(basename $(file))))))
+I18Nmsgs  = $(addprefix $(LOCDIR)/, $(addsuffix /LC_MESSAGES/vdr-$(PLUGIN).mo, $(notdir $(foreach file, $(I18Npo), $(basename $(file))))))
 I18Npot   = $(PODIR)/$(PLUGIN).pot
 
 %.mo: %.po
@@ -86,10 +79,10 @@ $(I18Npot): $(wildcard *.c)
 	xgettext -C -cTRANSLATORS --no-wrap --no-location -k -ktr -ktrNOOP --package-name=vdr-$(PLUGIN) --package-version=$(VERSION) --msgid-bugs-address='<see README>' -o $@ `ls $^`
 
 %.po: $(I18Npot)
-	msgmerge -U --no-wrap --no-location --backup=none -q $@ $<
+	msgmerge -U --no-wrap --no-location --backup=none -q -N $@ $<
 	@touch $@
 
-$(I18Nmsgs): $(LOCALEDIR)/%/LC_MESSAGES/vdr-$(PLUGIN).mo: $(PODIR)/%.mo
+$(I18Nmsgs): $(LOCDIR)/%/LC_MESSAGES/vdr-$(PLUGIN).mo: $(PODIR)/%.mo
 	@mkdir -p $(dir $@)
 	cp $< $@
 
diff --git a/PLUGINS/src/osddemo/Makefile b/PLUGINS/src/osddemo/Makefile
index 68a236b5..a400658e 100644
--- a/PLUGINS/src/osddemo/Makefile
+++ b/PLUGINS/src/osddemo/Makefile
@@ -1,40 +1,34 @@
 #
 # Makefile for a Video Disk Recorder plugin
 #
-# $Id: Makefile 2.5 2012/03/11 15:34:08 kls Exp $
+# $Id: Makefile 2.6 2012/12/18 13:35:25 kls Exp $
 
 # The official name of this plugin.
-# This name will be used in the '-P...' option of VDR to load the plugin.
-# By default the main source file also carries this name.
-#
+
 PLUGIN = osddemo
 
 ### The version number of this plugin (taken from the main source file):
 
 VERSION = $(shell grep 'static const char \*VERSION *=' $(PLUGIN).c | awk '{ print $$6 }' | sed -e 's/[";]//g')
 
-### The C++ compiler and options:
-
-CXX      ?= g++
-CXXFLAGS ?= -g -O3 -Wall -Werror=overloaded-virtual -Wno-parentheses
-
 ### The directory environment:
 
-VDRDIR ?= ../../..
-LIBDIR ?= ../../lib
+# Use package data if installed...otherwise assume we're under the VDR source directory:
+PKGCFG  = $(if $(VDRDIR),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) $(VDRDIR)/vdr.pc),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) vdr || pkg-config --variable=$(1) ../../../vdr.pc))
+INCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,incdir)
+LIBDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,libdir)
+LOCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,locdir)
+#
 TMPDIR ?= /tmp
 
-### Make sure that necessary options are included:
+### The compiler options:
 
-include $(VDRDIR)/Make.global
+export CFLAGS   ?= $(call PKGCFG,cflags)
+export CXXFLAGS ?= $(call PKGCFG,cxxflags)
 
-### Allow user defined options to overwrite defaults:
+### The version number of VDR's plugin API:
 
--include $(VDRDIR)/Make.config
-
-### The version number of VDR's plugin API (taken from VDR's "config.h"):
-
-APIVERSION = $(shell sed -ne '/define APIVERSION/s/^.*"\(.*\)".*$$/\1/p' $(VDRDIR)/config.h)
+APIVERSION = $(call PKGCFG,apiversion)
 
 ### The name of the distribution archive:
 
@@ -43,9 +37,9 @@ PACKAGE = vdr-$(ARCHIVE)
 
 ### Includes and Defines (add further entries here):
 
-INCLUDES += -I$(VDRDIR)/include
+INCLUDES += -I$(INCDIR)
 
-DEFINES += -D_GNU_SOURCE -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
+DEFINES += -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
 
 ### The object files (add further files here):
 
@@ -60,7 +54,7 @@ all: libvdr-$(PLUGIN).so
 %.o: %.c
 	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -c $(DEFINES) $(INCLUDES) $<
 
-# Dependencies:
+### Dependencies:
 
 MAKEDEP = $(CXX) -MM -MG
 DEPFILE = .dependencies
diff --git a/PLUGINS/src/pictures/Makefile b/PLUGINS/src/pictures/Makefile
index 038066c2..27ac5963 100644
--- a/PLUGINS/src/pictures/Makefile
+++ b/PLUGINS/src/pictures/Makefile
@@ -1,42 +1,36 @@
 #
 # Makefile for a Video Disk Recorder plugin
 #
-# $Id: Makefile 2.10 2012/12/18 09:37:16 kls Exp $
+# $Id: Makefile 2.11 2012/12/19 12:10:17 kls Exp $
 
 # The official name of this plugin.
 # This name will be used in the '-P...' option of VDR to load the plugin.
 # By default the main source file also carries this name.
-# IMPORTANT: the presence of this macro is important for the Make.config
-# file. So it must be defined, even if it is not used here!
-#
+
 PLUGIN = pictures
 
 ### The version number of this plugin (taken from the main source file):
 
 VERSION = $(shell grep 'static const char \*VERSION *=' $(PLUGIN).c | awk '{ print $$6 }' | sed -e 's/[";]//g')
 
-### The C++ compiler and options:
-
-CXX      ?= g++
-CXXFLAGS ?= -g -O3 -Wall -Werror=overloaded-virtual -Wno-parentheses
-
 ### The directory environment:
 
-VDRDIR ?= ../../..
-LIBDIR ?= ../../lib
+# Use package data if installed...otherwise assume we're under the VDR source directory:
+PKGCFG  = $(if $(VDRDIR),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) $(VDRDIR)/vdr.pc),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) vdr || pkg-config --variable=$(1) ../../../vdr.pc))
+INCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,incdir)
+LIBDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,libdir)
+LOCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,locdir)
+#
 TMPDIR ?= /tmp
 
-### Make sure that necessary options are included:
+### The compiler options:
 
-include $(VDRDIR)/Make.global
+export CFLAGS   ?= $(call PKGCFG,cflags)
+export CXXFLAGS ?= $(call PKGCFG,cxxflags)
 
-### Allow user defined options to overwrite defaults:
+### The version number of VDR's plugin API:
 
--include $(VDRDIR)/Make.config
-
-### The version number of VDR's plugin API (taken from VDR's "config.h"):
-
-APIVERSION = $(shell sed -ne '/define APIVERSION/s/^.*"\(.*\)".*$$/\1/p' $(VDRDIR)/config.h)
+APIVERSION = $(call PKGCFG,apiversion)
 
 ### The name of the distribution archive:
 
@@ -45,9 +39,9 @@ PACKAGE = vdr-$(ARCHIVE)
 
 ### Includes and Defines (add further entries here):
 
-INCLUDES += -I$(VDRDIR)/include
+INCLUDES += -I$(INCDIR)
 
-DEFINES += -D_GNU_SOURCE -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
+DEFINES += -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
 
 ### The object files (add further files here):
 
@@ -74,9 +68,8 @@ $(DEPFILE): Makefile
 ### Internationalization (I18N):
 
 PODIR     = po
-LOCALEDIR = $(VDRDIR)/locale
 I18Npo    = $(wildcard $(PODIR)/*.po)
-I18Nmsgs  = $(addprefix $(LOCALEDIR)/, $(addsuffix /LC_MESSAGES/vdr-$(PLUGIN).mo, $(notdir $(foreach file, $(I18Npo), $(basename $(file))))))
+I18Nmsgs  = $(addprefix $(LOCDIR)/, $(addsuffix /LC_MESSAGES/vdr-$(PLUGIN).mo, $(notdir $(foreach file, $(I18Npo), $(basename $(file))))))
 I18Npot   = $(PODIR)/$(PLUGIN).pot
 
 %.mo: %.po
@@ -86,10 +79,10 @@ $(I18Npot): $(wildcard *.c)
 	xgettext -C -cTRANSLATORS --no-wrap --no-location -k -ktr -ktrNOOP --package-name=vdr-$(PLUGIN) --package-version=$(VERSION) --msgid-bugs-address='<see README>' -o $@ `ls $^`
 
 %.po: $(I18Npot)
-	msgmerge -U --no-wrap --no-location --backup=none -q $@ $<
+	msgmerge -U --no-wrap --no-location --backup=none -q -N $@ $<
 	@touch $@
 
-$(I18Nmsgs): $(LOCALEDIR)/%/LC_MESSAGES/vdr-$(PLUGIN).mo: $(PODIR)/%.mo
+$(I18Nmsgs): $(LOCDIR)/%/LC_MESSAGES/vdr-$(PLUGIN).mo: $(PODIR)/%.mo
 	@mkdir -p $(dir $@)
 	cp $< $@
 
diff --git a/PLUGINS/src/rcu/Makefile b/PLUGINS/src/rcu/Makefile
index aa6be743..1635edf4 100644
--- a/PLUGINS/src/rcu/Makefile
+++ b/PLUGINS/src/rcu/Makefile
@@ -1,42 +1,36 @@
 #
 # Makefile for a Video Disk Recorder plugin
 #
-# $Id: Makefile 1.3 2012/12/18 09:30:02 kls Exp $
+# $Id: Makefile 1.4 2012/12/19 11:17:56 kls Exp $
 
 # The official name of this plugin.
 # This name will be used in the '-P...' option of VDR to load the plugin.
 # By default the main source file also carries this name.
-# IMPORTANT: the presence of this macro is important for the Make.config
-# file. So it must be defined, even if it is not used here!
-#
+
 PLUGIN = rcu
 
 ### The version number of this plugin (taken from the main source file):
 
 VERSION = $(shell grep 'static const char \*VERSION *=' $(PLUGIN).c | awk '{ print $$6 }' | sed -e 's/[";]//g')
 
-### The C++ compiler and options:
-
-CXX      ?= g++
-CXXFLAGS ?= -g -O3 -Wall -Werror=overloaded-virtual -Wno-parentheses
-
 ### The directory environment:
 
-VDRDIR ?= ../../..
-LIBDIR ?= ../../lib
+# Use package data if installed...otherwise assume we're under the VDR source directory:
+PKGCFG  = $(if $(VDRDIR),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) $(VDRDIR)/vdr.pc),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) vdr || pkg-config --variable=$(1) ../../../vdr.pc))
+INCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,incdir)
+LIBDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,libdir)
+LOCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,locdir)
+#
 TMPDIR ?= /tmp
 
-### Make sure that necessary options are included:
+### The compiler options:
 
-include $(VDRDIR)/Make.global
+export CFLAGS   ?= $(call PKGCFG,cflags)
+export CXXFLAGS ?= $(call PKGCFG,cxxflags)
 
-### Allow user defined options to overwrite defaults:
+### The version number of VDR's plugin API:
 
--include $(VDRDIR)/Make.config
-
-### The version number of VDR's plugin API (taken from VDR's "config.h"):
-
-APIVERSION = $(shell sed -ne '/define APIVERSION/s/^.*"\(.*\)".*$$/\1/p' $(VDRDIR)/config.h)
+APIVERSION = $(call PKGCFG,apiversion)
 
 ### The name of the distribution archive:
 
@@ -45,9 +39,9 @@ PACKAGE = vdr-$(ARCHIVE)
 
 ### Includes and Defines (add further entries here):
 
-INCLUDES += -I$(VDRDIR)/include
+INCLUDES += -I$(INCDIR)
 
-DEFINES += -D_GNU_SOURCE -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
+DEFINES += -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
 
 ### The object files (add further files here):
 
@@ -55,7 +49,7 @@ OBJS = $(PLUGIN).o
 
 ### The main target:
 
-all: libvdr-$(PLUGIN).so i18n
+all: libvdr-$(PLUGIN).so
 
 ### Implicit rules:
 
@@ -71,38 +65,13 @@ $(DEPFILE): Makefile
 
 -include $(DEPFILE)
 
-### Internationalization (I18N):
-
-PODIR     = po
-LOCALEDIR = $(VDRDIR)/locale
-I18Npo    = $(wildcard $(PODIR)/*.po)
-I18Nmsgs  = $(addprefix $(LOCALEDIR)/, $(addsuffix /LC_MESSAGES/vdr-$(PLUGIN).mo, $(notdir $(foreach file, $(I18Npo), $(basename $(file))))))
-I18Npot   = $(PODIR)/$(PLUGIN).pot
-
-%.mo: %.po
-	msgfmt -c -o $@ $<
-
-$(I18Npot): $(wildcard *.c)
-	xgettext -C -cTRANSLATORS --no-wrap --no-location -k -ktr -ktrNOOP --package-name=vdr-$(PLUGIN) --package-version=$(VERSION) --msgid-bugs-address='<see README>' -o $@ `ls $^`
-
-%.po: $(I18Npot)
-	msgmerge -U --no-wrap --no-location --backup=none -q $@ $<
-	@touch $@
-
-$(I18Nmsgs): $(LOCALEDIR)/%/LC_MESSAGES/vdr-$(PLUGIN).mo: $(PODIR)/%.mo
-	@mkdir -p $(dir $@)
-	cp $< $@
-
-.PHONY: i18n
-i18n: $(I18Nmsgs) $(I18Npot)
-
 ### Targets:
 
 libvdr-$(PLUGIN).so: $(OBJS)
 	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -shared $(OBJS) -o $@
 	@cp --remove-destination $@ $(LIBDIR)/$@.$(APIVERSION)
 
-dist: $(I18Npo) clean
+dist: clean
 	@-rm -rf $(TMPDIR)/$(ARCHIVE)
 	@mkdir $(TMPDIR)/$(ARCHIVE)
 	@cp -a * $(TMPDIR)/$(ARCHIVE)
diff --git a/PLUGINS/src/servicedemo/Makefile b/PLUGINS/src/servicedemo/Makefile
index 941aaff6..22aa7f0e 100644
--- a/PLUGINS/src/servicedemo/Makefile
+++ b/PLUGINS/src/servicedemo/Makefile
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
 #
 # Makefile for a Video Disk Recorder plugin
 #
-# $Id: Makefile 2.5 2012/03/11 15:34:13 kls Exp $
+# $Id: Makefile 2.6 2012/12/18 13:35:40 kls Exp $
 
 # The official name of this plugin.
 # This name will be used in the '-P...' option of VDR to load the plugin.
 # By default the main source file also carries this name.
-#
-PLUGIN  = servicedemo # dummy name for Make.config
+
 PLUGIN1 = svccli
 PLUGIN2 = svcsvr
 
@@ -15,28 +14,24 @@ PLUGIN2 = svcsvr
 
 VERSION = $(shell grep 'static const char \*VERSION *=' $(PLUGIN1).c | awk '{ print $$6 }' | sed -e 's/[";]//g')
 
-### The C++ compiler and options:
-
-CXX      ?= g++
-CXXFLAGS ?= -g -O3 -Wall -Werror=overloaded-virtual -Wno-parentheses
-
 ### The directory environment:
 
-VDRDIR ?= ../../..
-LIBDIR ?= ../../lib
+# Use package data if installed...otherwise assume we're under the VDR source directory:
+PKGCFG  = $(if $(VDRDIR),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) $(VDRDIR)/vdr.pc),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) vdr || pkg-config --variable=$(1) ../../../vdr.pc))
+INCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,incdir)
+LIBDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,libdir)
+LOCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,locdir)
+#
 TMPDIR ?= /tmp
 
-### Make sure that necessary options are included:
+### The compiler options:
 
-include $(VDRDIR)/Make.global
+export CFLAGS   ?= $(call PKGCFG,cflags)
+export CXXFLAGS ?= $(call PKGCFG,cxxflags)
 
-### Allow user defined options to overwrite defaults:
+### The version number of VDR's plugin API:
 
--include $(VDRDIR)/Make.config
-
-### The version number of VDR's plugin API (taken from VDR's "config.h"):
-
-APIVERSION = $(shell sed -ne '/define APIVERSION/s/^.*"\(.*\)".*$$/\1/p' $(VDRDIR)/config.h)
+APIVERSION = $(call PKGCFG,apiversion)
 
 ### The name of the distribution archive:
 
@@ -45,9 +40,9 @@ PACKAGE = vdr-$(ARCHIVE)
 
 ### Includes and Defines (add further entries here):
 
-INCLUDES += -I$(VDRDIR)/include
+INCLUDES += -I$(INCDIR)
 
-DEFINES += -D_GNU_SOURCE -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
+DEFINES += -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
 
 ### The object files (add further files here):
 
@@ -62,7 +57,7 @@ all: libvdr-$(PLUGIN1).so libvdr-$(PLUGIN2).so
 %.o: %.c
 	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -c $(DEFINES) $(INCLUDES) $<
 
-# Dependencies:
+### Dependencies:
 
 MAKEDEP = $(CXX) -MM -MG
 DEPFILE = .dependencies
diff --git a/PLUGINS/src/skincurses/Makefile b/PLUGINS/src/skincurses/Makefile
index 256f8a5d..c809712b 100644
--- a/PLUGINS/src/skincurses/Makefile
+++ b/PLUGINS/src/skincurses/Makefile
@@ -1,42 +1,36 @@
 #
 # Makefile for a Video Disk Recorder plugin
 #
-# $Id: Makefile 2.10 2012/12/18 09:37:39 kls Exp $
+# $Id: Makefile 2.11 2012/12/19 12:10:28 kls Exp $
 
 # The official name of this plugin.
 # This name will be used in the '-P...' option of VDR to load the plugin.
 # By default the main source file also carries this name.
-# IMPORTANT: the presence of this macro is important for the Make.config
-# file. So it must be defined, even if it is not used here!
-#
+
 PLUGIN = skincurses
 
 ### The version number of this plugin (taken from the main source file):
 
 VERSION = $(shell grep 'static const char \*VERSION *=' $(PLUGIN).c | awk '{ print $$6 }' | sed -e 's/[";]//g')
 
-### The C++ compiler and options:
-
-CXX      ?= g++
-CXXFLAGS ?= -g -O3 -Wall -Werror=overloaded-virtual -Wno-parentheses
-
 ### The directory environment:
 
-VDRDIR ?= ../../..
-LIBDIR ?= ../../lib
+# Use package data if installed...otherwise assume we're under the VDR source directory:
+PKGCFG  = $(if $(VDRDIR),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) $(VDRDIR)/vdr.pc),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) vdr || pkg-config --variable=$(1) ../../../vdr.pc))
+INCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,incdir)
+LIBDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,libdir)
+LOCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,locdir)
+#
 TMPDIR ?= /tmp
 
-### Make sure that necessary options are included:
+### The compiler options:
 
-include $(VDRDIR)/Make.global
+export CFLAGS   ?= $(call PKGCFG,cflags)
+export CXXFLAGS ?= $(call PKGCFG,cxxflags)
 
-### Allow user defined options to overwrite defaults:
+### The version number of VDR's plugin API:
 
--include $(VDRDIR)/Make.config
-
-### The version number of VDR's plugin API (taken from VDR's "config.h"):
-
-APIVERSION = $(shell sed -ne '/define APIVERSION/s/^.*"\(.*\)".*$$/\1/p' $(VDRDIR)/config.h)
+APIVERSION = $(call PKGCFG,apiversion)
 
 ### The name of the distribution archive:
 
@@ -45,9 +39,9 @@ PACKAGE = vdr-$(ARCHIVE)
 
 ### Includes and Defines (add further entries here):
 
-INCLUDES += -I$(VDRDIR)/include
+INCLUDES += -I$(INCDIR)
 
-DEFINES += -D_GNU_SOURCE -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
+DEFINES += -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
 
 ### The object files (add further files here):
 
@@ -74,9 +68,8 @@ $(DEPFILE): Makefile
 ### Internationalization (I18N):
 
 PODIR     = po
-LOCALEDIR = $(VDRDIR)/locale
 I18Npo    = $(wildcard $(PODIR)/*.po)
-I18Nmsgs  = $(addprefix $(LOCALEDIR)/, $(addsuffix /LC_MESSAGES/vdr-$(PLUGIN).mo, $(notdir $(foreach file, $(I18Npo), $(basename $(file))))))
+I18Nmsgs  = $(addprefix $(LOCDIR)/, $(addsuffix /LC_MESSAGES/vdr-$(PLUGIN).mo, $(notdir $(foreach file, $(I18Npo), $(basename $(file))))))
 I18Npot   = $(PODIR)/$(PLUGIN).pot
 
 %.mo: %.po
@@ -86,10 +79,10 @@ $(I18Npot): $(wildcard *.c)
 	xgettext -C -cTRANSLATORS --no-wrap --no-location -k -ktr -ktrNOOP --package-name=vdr-$(PLUGIN) --package-version=$(VERSION) --msgid-bugs-address='<see README>' -o $@ `ls $^`
 
 %.po: $(I18Npot)
-	msgmerge -U --no-wrap --no-location --backup=none -q $@ $<
+	msgmerge -U --no-wrap --no-location --backup=none -q -N $@ $<
 	@touch $@
 
-$(I18Nmsgs): $(LOCALEDIR)/%/LC_MESSAGES/vdr-$(PLUGIN).mo: $(PODIR)/%.mo
+$(I18Nmsgs): $(LOCDIR)/%/LC_MESSAGES/vdr-$(PLUGIN).mo: $(PODIR)/%.mo
 	@mkdir -p $(dir $@)
 	cp $< $@
 
diff --git a/PLUGINS/src/status/Makefile b/PLUGINS/src/status/Makefile
index dd46ba69..5cfd1027 100644
--- a/PLUGINS/src/status/Makefile
+++ b/PLUGINS/src/status/Makefile
@@ -1,40 +1,36 @@
 #
 # Makefile for a Video Disk Recorder plugin
 #
-# $Id: Makefile 2.5 2012/03/11 15:34:20 kls Exp $
+# $Id: Makefile 2.6 2012/12/18 13:35:47 kls Exp $
 
 # The official name of this plugin.
 # This name will be used in the '-P...' option of VDR to load the plugin.
 # By default the main source file also carries this name.
-#
+
 PLUGIN = status
 
 ### The version number of this plugin (taken from the main source file):
 
 VERSION = $(shell grep 'static const char \*VERSION *=' $(PLUGIN).c | awk '{ print $$6 }' | sed -e 's/[";]//g')
 
-### The C++ compiler and options:
-
-CXX      ?= g++
-CXXFLAGS ?= -g -O3 -Wall -Werror=overloaded-virtual -Wno-parentheses
-
 ### The directory environment:
 
-VDRDIR ?= ../../..
-LIBDIR ?= ../../lib
+# Use package data if installed...otherwise assume we're under the VDR source directory:
+PKGCFG  = $(if $(VDRDIR),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) $(VDRDIR)/vdr.pc),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) vdr || pkg-config --variable=$(1) ../../../vdr.pc))
+INCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,incdir)
+LIBDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,libdir)
+LOCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,locdir)
+#
 TMPDIR ?= /tmp
 
-### Make sure that necessary options are included:
+### The compiler options:
 
-include $(VDRDIR)/Make.global
+export CFLAGS   ?= $(call PKGCFG,cflags)
+export CXXFLAGS ?= $(call PKGCFG,cxxflags)
 
-### Allow user defined options to overwrite defaults:
+### The version number of VDR's plugin API:
 
--include $(VDRDIR)/Make.config
-
-### The version number of VDR's plugin API (taken from VDR's "config.h"):
-
-APIVERSION = $(shell sed -ne '/define APIVERSION/s/^.*"\(.*\)".*$$/\1/p' $(VDRDIR)/config.h)
+APIVERSION = $(call PKGCFG,apiversion)
 
 ### The name of the distribution archive:
 
@@ -43,9 +39,9 @@ PACKAGE = vdr-$(ARCHIVE)
 
 ### Includes and Defines (add further entries here):
 
-INCLUDES += -I$(VDRDIR)/include
+INCLUDES += -I$(INCDIR)
 
-DEFINES += -D_GNU_SOURCE -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
+DEFINES += -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
 
 ### The object files (add further files here):
 
@@ -60,7 +56,7 @@ all: libvdr-$(PLUGIN).so
 %.o: %.c
 	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -c $(DEFINES) $(INCLUDES) $<
 
-# Dependencies:
+### Dependencies:
 
 MAKEDEP = $(CXX) -MM -MG
 DEPFILE = .dependencies
diff --git a/PLUGINS/src/svdrpdemo/Makefile b/PLUGINS/src/svdrpdemo/Makefile
index 5109b297..47a67b5d 100644
--- a/PLUGINS/src/svdrpdemo/Makefile
+++ b/PLUGINS/src/svdrpdemo/Makefile
@@ -1,40 +1,36 @@
 #
 # Makefile for a Video Disk Recorder plugin
 #
-# $Id: Makefile 2.5 2012/03/11 15:34:22 kls Exp $
+# $Id: Makefile 2.6 2012/12/18 13:35:51 kls Exp $
 
 # The official name of this plugin.
 # This name will be used in the '-P...' option of VDR to load the plugin.
 # By default the main source file also carries this name.
-#
+
 PLUGIN = svdrpdemo
 
 ### The version number of this plugin (taken from the main source file):
 
 VERSION = $(shell grep 'static const char \*VERSION *=' $(PLUGIN).c | awk '{ print $$6 }' | sed -e 's/[";]//g')
 
-### The C++ compiler and options:
-
-CXX      ?= g++
-CXXFLAGS ?= -g -O3 -Wall -Werror=overloaded-virtual -Wno-parentheses
-
 ### The directory environment:
 
-VDRDIR ?= ../../..
-LIBDIR ?= ../../lib
+# Use package data if installed...otherwise assume we're under the VDR source directory:
+PKGCFG  = $(if $(VDRDIR),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) $(VDRDIR)/vdr.pc),$(shell pkg-config --variable=$(1) vdr || pkg-config --variable=$(1) ../../../vdr.pc))
+INCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,incdir)
+LIBDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,libdir)
+LOCDIR ?= $(call PKGCFG,locdir)
+#
 TMPDIR ?= /tmp
 
-### Make sure that necessary options are included:
+### The compiler options:
 
-include $(VDRDIR)/Make.global
+export CFLAGS   ?= $(call PKGCFG,cflags)
+export CXXFLAGS ?= $(call PKGCFG,cxxflags)
 
-### Allow user defined options to overwrite defaults:
+### The version number of VDR's plugin API:
 
--include $(VDRDIR)/Make.config
-
-### The version number of VDR's plugin API (taken from VDR's "config.h"):
-
-APIVERSION = $(shell sed -ne '/define APIVERSION/s/^.*"\(.*\)".*$$/\1/p' $(VDRDIR)/config.h)
+APIVERSION = $(call PKGCFG,apiversion)
 
 ### The name of the distribution archive:
 
@@ -43,9 +39,9 @@ PACKAGE = vdr-$(ARCHIVE)
 
 ### Includes and Defines (add further entries here):
 
-INCLUDES += -I$(VDRDIR)/include
+INCLUDES += -I$(INCDIR)
 
-DEFINES += -D_GNU_SOURCE -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
+DEFINES += -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"$(PLUGIN)"'
 
 ### The object files (add further files here):
 
@@ -60,7 +56,7 @@ all: libvdr-$(PLUGIN).so
 %.o: %.c
 	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -c $(DEFINES) $(INCLUDES) $<
 
-# Dependencies:
+### Dependencies:
 
 MAKEDEP = $(CXX) -MM -MG
 DEPFILE = .dependencies
diff --git a/libsi/Makefile b/libsi/Makefile
index 9d2d40dd..dff5ca9c 100644
--- a/libsi/Makefile
+++ b/libsi/Makefile
@@ -1,27 +1,16 @@
 #
 # Makefile for a libsi
 #
-# $Id: Makefile 2.3 2012/01/18 12:31:40 kls Exp $
+# $Id: Makefile 2.4 2012/12/18 13:35:54 kls Exp $
 
-### The C++ compiler and options:
+### The archiver options:
 
-CXX      ?= g++
-CXXFLAGS ?= -O2 -g -Wall -Woverloaded-virtual
 AR       ?= ar
 ARFLAGS  ?= ru
 RANLIB   ?= ranlib
 
-include ../Make.global
 -include ../Make.config
 
-### The directory environment:
-
-INCLUDES +=
-
-DEFINES +=
-
-LIBS +=
-
 ### The object files (add further files here):
 
 OBJS = util.o si.o section.o descriptor.o
@@ -31,7 +20,7 @@ OBJS = util.o si.o section.o descriptor.o
 %.o: %.c
 	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -c $(DEFINES) $(INCLUDES) $<
 
-# Dependencies:
+### Dependencies:
 
 MAKEDEP = $(CXX) -MM -MG
 DEPFILE = .dependencies
diff --git a/newplugin b/newplugin
index a148190e..d5aa047b 100755
--- a/newplugin
+++ b/newplugin
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # See the main source file 'vdr.c' for copyright information and
 # how to reach the author.
 #
-# $Id: newplugin 2.9 2012/12/18 09:30:57 kls Exp $
+# $Id: newplugin 2.10 2012/12/19 11:03:28 kls Exp $
 
 $PLUGIN_NAME = $ARGV[0] || die "Usage: newplugin <name>\n";
 
@@ -65,37 +65,31 @@ $MAKEFILE = qq
 # The official name of this plugin.
 # This name will be used in the '-P...' option of VDR to load the plugin.
 # By default the main source file also carries this name.
-# IMPORTANT: the presence of this macro is important for the Make.config
-# file. So it must be defined, even if it is not used here!
-#
+
 PLUGIN = $PLUGIN_NAME
 
 ### The version number of this plugin (taken from the main source file):
 
 VERSION = \$(shell grep 'static const char \\*VERSION *=' \$(PLUGIN).c | awk '{ print \$\$6 }' | sed -e 's/[";]//g')
 
-### The C++ compiler and options:
-
-CXX      ?= g++
-CXXFLAGS ?= -g -O3 -Wall -Werror=overloaded-virtual -Wno-parentheses
-
 ### The directory environment:
 
-VDRDIR ?= ../../..
-LIBDIR ?= ../../lib
+# Use package data if installed...otherwise assume we're under the VDR source directory:
+PKGCFG  = \$(if \$(VDRDIR),\$(shell pkg-config --variable=\$(1) \$(VDRDIR)/vdr.pc),\$(shell pkg-config --variable=\$(1) vdr || pkg-config --variable=\$(1) ../../../vdr.pc))
+INCDIR ?= \$(call PKGCFG,includedir)
+LIBDIR ?= \$(call PKGCFG,libdir)
+LOCDIR ?= \$(call PKGCFG,localedir)
+#
 TMPDIR ?= /tmp
 
-### Make sure that necessary options are included:
+### The compiler options:
 
-include \$(VDRDIR)/Make.global
+export CFLAGS   ?= \$(call PKGCFG,cflags)
+export CXXFLAGS ?= \$(call PKGCFG,cxxflags)
 
-### Allow user defined options to overwrite defaults:
+### The version number of VDR's plugin API:
 
--include \$(VDRDIR)/Make.config
-
-### The version number of VDR's plugin API (taken from VDR's "config.h"):
-
-APIVERSION = \$(shell sed -ne '/define APIVERSION/s/^.*"\\(.*\\)".*\$\$/\\1/p' \$(VDRDIR)/config.h)
+APIVERSION = \$(call PKGCFG,apiversion)
 
 ### The name of the distribution archive:
 
@@ -104,9 +98,9 @@ PACKAGE = vdr-\$(ARCHIVE)
 
 ### Includes and Defines (add further entries here):
 
-INCLUDES += -I\$(VDRDIR)/include
+INCLUDES += -I\$(INCDIR)
 
-DEFINES += -D_GNU_SOURCE -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"\$(PLUGIN)"'
+DEFINES += -DPLUGIN_NAME_I18N='"\$(PLUGIN)"'
 
 ### The object files (add further files here):
 
@@ -133,9 +127,8 @@ DEPFILE = .dependencies
 ### Internationalization (I18N):
 
 PODIR     = po
-LOCALEDIR = \$(VDRDIR)/locale
 I18Npo    = \$(wildcard \$(PODIR)/*.po)
-I18Nmsgs  = \$(addprefix \$(LOCALEDIR)/, \$(addsuffix /LC_MESSAGES/vdr-\$(PLUGIN).mo, \$(notdir \$(foreach file, \$(I18Npo), \$(basename \$(file))))))
+I18Nmsgs  = \$(addprefix \$(LOCDIR)/, \$(addsuffix /LC_MESSAGES/vdr-\$(PLUGIN).mo, \$(notdir \$(foreach file, \$(I18Npo), \$(basename \$(file))))))
 I18Npot   = \$(PODIR)/\$(PLUGIN).pot
 
 %.mo: %.po
@@ -145,10 +138,10 @@ I18Npot   = \$(PODIR)/\$(PLUGIN).pot
 	xgettext -C -cTRANSLATORS --no-wrap --no-location -k -ktr -ktrNOOP --package-name=vdr-\$(PLUGIN) --package-version=\$(VERSION) --msgid-bugs-address='<see README>' -o \$\@ `ls \$^`
 
 %.po: \$(I18Npot)
-	msgmerge -U --no-wrap --no-location --backup=none -q \$\@ \$<
+	msgmerge -U --no-wrap --no-location --backup=none -q -N \$\@ \$<
 	\@touch \$\@
 
-\$(I18Nmsgs): \$(LOCALEDIR)/%/LC_MESSAGES/vdr-\$(PLUGIN).mo: \$(PODIR)/%.mo
+\$(I18Nmsgs): \$(LOCDIR)/%/LC_MESSAGES/vdr-\$(PLUGIN).mo: \$(PODIR)/%.mo
 	\@mkdir -p \$(dir \$@)
 	cp \$< \$\@