diff --git a/mk.sh b/mk.sh
index 9cfe556..4fbfa5e 100755
--- a/mk.sh
+++ b/mk.sh
@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@ mkdir -p "$TCDIR/$TARGET"
 
 CMAKETCFILE="$TCDIR/toolchain.cmake"
 
+pushd "$SCRIPTDIR" > /dev/null
+OS_NAME="Pygos"
+OS_RELEASE=$(git describe --always --tags --broken --dirty)
+popd > /dev/null
+
 ############################# include utilities ##############################
 source "$SCRIPTDIR/util/depends.sh"
 source "$SCRIPTDIR/util/download.sh"
diff --git a/pkg/linux-rpi3/build b/pkg/linux-rpi3/build
index 70a79c7..5c17e59 100755
--- a/pkg/linux-rpi3/build
+++ b/pkg/linux-rpi3/build
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ build() {
 
 	sed -i "$OUTPUT/.config" -e 's,^CONFIG_CROSS_COMPILE=.*,CONFIG_CROSS_COMPILE="'$TARGET'-",'
 	sed -i "$OUTPUT/.config" -e 's,^CONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE=.*,CONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE="'$INITRDLIST'",'
+	sed -i "$OUTPUT/.config" -e 's,^CONFIG_LOCALVERSION=.*,CONFIG_LOCALVERSION="-'${OS_NAME}-${OS_RELEASE}'",'
 	make -C "$INPUT" O="$OUTPUT" ARCH="arm" CROSS_COMPILE="${TARGET}-" -j $NUMJOBS zImage dtbs
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/linux/build b/pkg/linux/build
index 2059fe6..91a5f18 100755
--- a/pkg/linux/build
+++ b/pkg/linux/build
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ build() {
 	make -C "$INPUT" O="$OUTPUT" ARCH="$LINUX_CPU" CROSS_COMPILE="${TARGET}-" oldconfig
 	sed -i "$OUTPUT/.config" -e 's,^CONFIG_CROSS_COMPILE=.*,CONFIG_CROSS_COMPILE="'$TARGET'-",'
 	sed -i "$OUTPUT/.config" -e 's,^CONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE=.*,CONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE="'$INITRDLIST'",'
+	sed -i "$OUTPUT/.config" -e 's,^CONFIG_LOCALVERSION=.*,CONFIG_LOCALVERSION="-'${OS_NAME}-${OS_RELEASE}'",'
 	make -C "$INPUT" O="$OUTPUT" ARCH="$LINUX_CPU" CROSS_COMPILE="${TARGET}-" -j $NUMJOBS $LINUX_TGT
 }
 
@@ -37,6 +38,6 @@ deploy() {
 	local DEPLOY="$3"
 
 	pushd $BUILD
-	install -m 755 "arch/$LINUX_CPU/boot/$LINUX_TGT" "$DEPLOY/vmlinuz-$VERSION"
+	install -m 755 "arch/$LINUX_CPU/boot/$LINUX_TGT" "$DEPLOY/vmlinuz"
 	popd
 }
diff --git a/pkg/openrc/build b/pkg/openrc/build
index a1e02f4..66bc426 100755
--- a/pkg/openrc/build
+++ b/pkg/openrc/build
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ build() {
 	local BUILD="$2"
 	local DEPLOY="$3"
 
+	local distroname="${OS_NAME}-${OS_RELEASE}"
+
 	cp -R ${SOURCE}/* ${BUILD}
 
 	apply_patches
@@ -21,7 +23,7 @@ build() {
 	make CC=${TARGET}-gcc AR=${TARGET}-ar RANLIB=${TARGET}-ranlib \
 		LD=${TARGET}-ld LIBTERMCAP="-lncursesw" \
 		SBINDIR="/bin" INCDIR="/include" LIBNAME="lib" \
-		DESTDIR="$DEPLOY" OS=Linux BRANDING="distroname" \
+		DESTDIR="$DEPLOY" OS=Linux BRANDING="$distroname" \
 		MKNET=no MKSELINUX=no MKSTATICLIBS=no MKSYSVINIT=yes \
 		MKTERMCAP=ncurses UPREFIX="" \
 		-j $NUMJOBS
@@ -33,8 +35,10 @@ deploy() {
 	local DEPLOY="$3"
 	local DEVDEPLOY="$4"
 
+	local distroname="${OS_NAME}-${OS_RELEASE}"
+
 	make SBINDIR="/bin" INCDIR="/include" LIBNAME="lib" \
-		DESTDIR="$DEPLOY" OS=Linux BRANDING="distroname" UPREFIX="" \
+		DESTDIR="$DEPLOY" OS=Linux BRANDING="$distroname" UPREFIX="" \
 		install
 
 	split_dev_deploy "$DEPLOY" "$DEVDEPLOY"
diff --git a/pkg/release-alix/build b/pkg/release-alix/build
index 6e768a4..c0a8462 100755
--- a/pkg/release-alix/build
+++ b/pkg/release-alix/build
@@ -5,24 +5,27 @@ build() {
 	local BUILD="$2"
 	local DEPLOY="$3"
 
+	mkdir -p "$BUILD/$OS_RELEASE"
+
 	# copy output of immediate dependencies
 	for pkgname in $DEPENDS; do
 		if [ -e "$PKGDEPLOYDIR/$pkgname" ]; then
-			cp -ru ${PKGDEPLOYDIR}/${pkgname}/* "$BUILD"
+			cp -ru ${PKGDEPLOYDIR}/${pkgname}/* "$BUILD/$OS_RELEASE"
 		fi
 	done
 
 	# copy additional files from this package, subsitute filenames
-	local linux_image=$(basename $BUILD/vmlinuz*)
-	local rootfs_image="rootfs.img"
+	local linux_image="$OS_RELEASE/vmlinuz"
+	local rootfs_image="$OS_RELEASE/rootfs.img"
 
 	cp "/usr/share/syslinux/mbr.bin" "$BUILD"
 
 	for script in install.sh genimage.sh syslinux.cfg; do
 		cp "$SCRIPTDIR/$PKGDIR/$PKGNAME/$script" "$BUILD"
 
-		sed -i 's/ROOTFSFILE/'$rootfs_image'/g' "$BUILD/$script"
-		sed -i 's/KERNELFILE/'$linux_image'/g' "$BUILD/$script"
+		sed -i 's#ROOTFSFILE#'$rootfs_image'#g' "$BUILD/$script"
+		sed -i 's#KERNELFILE#'$linux_image'#g' "$BUILD/$script"
+		sed -i 's#VERSIONDIR#'$OS_RELEASE'#g' "$BUILD/$script"
 	done
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/release-alix/genimage.sh b/pkg/release-alix/genimage.sh
index 762d17c..dff1ced 100755
--- a/pkg/release-alix/genimage.sh
+++ b/pkg/release-alix/genimage.sh
@@ -37,8 +37,7 @@ MOUNTED=1
 
 syslinux --install ${LODEV}p1
 cp syslinux.cfg /tmp/mnt.$$/syslinux.cfg
-cp ROOTFSFILE /tmp/mnt.$$/
-cp KERNELFILE /tmp/mnt.$$/
+cp -r VERSIONDIR /tmp/mnt.$$/
 
 umount /tmp/mnt.$$
 MOUNTED=0
diff --git a/pkg/release-alix/install.sh b/pkg/release-alix/install.sh
index c657700..0a9d150 100755
--- a/pkg/release-alix/install.sh
+++ b/pkg/release-alix/install.sh
@@ -47,8 +47,7 @@ MOUNTED=1
 
 syslinux --install ${DEVICE}1
 cp syslinux.cfg /tmp/mnt.$$/syslinux.cfg
-cp ROOTFSFILE /tmp/mnt.$$/
-cp KERNELFILE /tmp/mnt.$$/
+cp -r VERSIONDIR /tmp/mnt.$$/
 
 umount /tmp/mnt.$$
 MOUNTED=0
diff --git a/pkg/rootfs/build b/pkg/rootfs/build
index 52d30cb..bfc88ad 100755
--- a/pkg/rootfs/build
+++ b/pkg/rootfs/build
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ build() {
 		cp -ru --remove-destination ${PKGDEPLOYDIR}/${pkgname}/* "$BUILD"
 	done < "$BUILD/etc/packages"
 
+	# version info
+	local fname=$(echo "${OS_NAME}-release" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
+
+	echo $OS_RELEASE > $BUILD/etc/$fname
+
 	# setup root home directory
 	cp -r "$BUILD/etc/skel" "$BUILD/root"
 	chmod 750 "$BUILD/root"