diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 22ffb53ca..836faae07 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ clients/go/camwebdav/camwebdav
 appengine-sdk
 build/root
 .DS_Store
+bin/cam*
 tmp
 server/camlistored/newui/all.js
 server/camlistored/newui/all.js.map
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c48fd24cf..871473b89 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,8 +1,20 @@
 # On OS X with "brew install sqlite3", you need PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/local/Cellar/sqlite/3.7.17/lib/pkgconfig/
 
+# TODO(bradfitz): rename "all" to "raw" and "newall" to "all", once
+# make.go is finished.  Then this text will remain and be accurate:
+#
+# The "raw" target is the old "all" way, using the "go" command
+# directly. Assumes that the camlistore root is in
+# $GOPATH/src/camlistore.org.
+#
+# The new "all" way (above) doesn't care where the directory is
+# checked out, or whether you even have a GOPATH at all.
 all:
 	go install --ldflags="-X camlistore.org/pkg/buildinfo.GitInfo "`./misc/gitversion` `pkg-config --libs sqlite3 1>/dev/null 2>/dev/null && echo "--tags=with_sqlite"` ./pkg/... ./server/... ./cmd/... ./third_party/...
 
+newall:
+	go run make.go
+
 # Workaround Go bug where the $GOPATH/pkg cache doesn't know about tag changes.
 # Useful when you accidentally run "make" and then "make presubmit" doesn't work.
 # See https://code.google.com/p/go/issues/detail?id=4443
diff --git a/bin/README b/bin/README
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f75493948
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/README
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+This is where Camlistore binaries go after running "go run make.go" in
+the Camlistore root directory.
diff --git a/gopath/.gitignore b/gopath/.gitignore
deleted file mode 100644
index adad9ed3b..000000000
--- a/gopath/.gitignore
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-pkg
-bin
diff --git a/gopath/src/camlistore.org b/gopath/src/camlistore.org
deleted file mode 120000
index 6581736d6..000000000
--- a/gopath/src/camlistore.org
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-../../
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/make.go b/make.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..73ee9d58d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/make.go
@@ -0,0 +1,275 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2013 Google Inc.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+// This program builds Camlistore.
+//
+// The output binaries go into the ./bin/ directory (under the
+// Camlistore root, where make.go is)
+package main
+
+import (
+	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"log"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"runtime"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+var wantSQLite = flag.Bool("sqlite", true, "Whether you want SQLite in your build. If you don't have any other database, you generally do.")
+
+func main() {
+	log.SetFlags(0)
+	flag.Parse()
+
+	camRoot, err := os.Getwd()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("Failed to get current directory: %v", err)
+	}
+	verifyCamlistoreRoot(camRoot)
+	verifyGoVersion()
+
+	// goPath becomes our child "go" processes' GOPATH environment variable:
+	goPath := filepath.Join(camRoot, "tmp", "build-gopath")
+	binDir := filepath.Join(camRoot, "bin")
+
+	// We copy all *.go files from camRoot's goDirs to buildSrcPath.
+	goDirs := []string{"cmd", "pkg", "server/camlistored", "third_party"}
+
+	buildSrcPath := filepath.Join(goPath, "src", "camlistore.org")
+
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(buildSrcPath, 0755); err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	sql := haveSQLite()
+	version := getVersion(camRoot)
+
+	log.Printf("Camlistore version = %s", version)
+	log.Printf("SQLite available: %v", sql)
+	log.Printf("Temp GOPATH: %s", buildSrcPath)
+	log.Printf("Output binaries: %s", binDir)
+
+	if !sql && *wantSQLite {
+		log.Printf("SQLite not found. Either install it, or run make.go with --sqlite=false")
+		switch runtime.GOOS {
+		case "darwin":
+			// TODO: search for /usr/local/Cellar/sqlite/*/lib/pkgconfig for the user.
+			log.Printf("On OS X, run 'brew install sqlite3' and set PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/local/Cellar/sqlite/3.7.17/lib/pkgconfig/")
+		case "linux":
+			log.Printf("On Linux, run 'sudo apt-get install libsqlite3-dev' or equivalent.")
+		case "windows":
+			log.Printf("On Windows, .... click stuff? TODO: fill this in")
+		}
+		os.Exit(2)
+	}
+
+	// Copy files we do want in our mirrored GOPATH.  This has the side effect of
+	// populating wantDestFile, populated by mirrorFile.
+	for _, dir := range goDirs {
+		srcPath := filepath.Join(camRoot, filepath.FromSlash(dir))
+		dstPath := filepath.Join(buildSrcPath, filepath.FromSlash(dir))
+		if err := mirrorDir(srcPath, dstPath); err != nil {
+			log.Fatalf("Error while mirroring %s to %s: %v", srcPath, dstPath, err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	deleteUnwantedOldMirrorFiles(buildSrcPath)
+
+	tags := ""
+	if sql && *wantSQLite {
+		tags = "with_sqlite"
+	}
+	cmd := exec.Command("go", "install",
+		"-v",
+		"--ldflags=-X camlistore.org/pkg/buildinfo.GitInfo "+version,
+		"--tags="+tags,
+		"camlistore.org/pkg/...",
+		"camlistore.org/server/...",
+		"camlistore.org/third_party/...",
+		"camlistore.org/cmd/camget",
+		"camlistore.org/cmd/camput",
+		"camlistore.org/cmd/camtool",
+	)
+	switch runtime.GOOS {
+	case "linux", "darwin":
+		cmd.Args = append(cmd.Args, "camlistore.org/cmd/cammount")
+	}
+	for _, env := range os.Environ() {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(env, "GOPATH=") || strings.HasPrefix(env, "GOBIN=") {
+			continue
+		}
+		cmd.Env = append(cmd.Env, env)
+	}
+	cmd.Env = append(cmd.Env, "GOPATH="+goPath)
+	cmd.Env = append(cmd.Env, "GOBIN="+binDir)
+	cmd.Stdout = os.Stdout
+	cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr
+	if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("Error building: %v", err)
+	}
+	log.Printf("Success. Binaries are in %s", binDir)
+}
+
+// getVersion returns the version of Camlistore. Either from a VERSION file at the root,
+// or from git.
+func getVersion(camRoot string) string {
+	slurp, err := ioutil.ReadFile(filepath.Join(camRoot, "VERSION"))
+	if err == nil {
+		return strings.TrimSpace(string(slurp))
+	}
+	out, err := exec.Command(filepath.Join(camRoot, "misc", "gitversion")).Output()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("Error running ./misc/gitversion to determine Camlistore version: %v", err)
+	}
+	return strings.TrimSpace(string(out))
+}
+
+// verifyCamlistoreRoot crashes if dir isn't the Camlistore root directory.
+func verifyCamlistoreRoot(dir string) {
+	testFile := filepath.Join(dir, "pkg", "blobref", "blobref.go")
+	if _, err := os.Stat(testFile); err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("make.go must be run from the Camlistore src root directory (where make.go is). Current working directory is %s", dir)
+	}
+}
+
+func verifyGoVersion() {
+	_, err := exec.LookPath("go")
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("Go doesn't appeared to be installed ('go' isn't in your PATH). Install Go 1.1 or newer.")
+	}
+	out, err := exec.Command("go", "version").Output()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("Error checking Go version with the 'go' command: %v", err)
+	}
+	fields := strings.Fields(string(out))
+	if len(fields) < 3 || !strings.HasPrefix(string(out), "go version ") {
+		log.Fatalf("Unexpected output while checking 'go version': %q", out)
+	}
+	version := fields[2]
+	switch version {
+	case "go1", "go1.0.1", "go1.0.2", "go1.0.3":
+		log.Fatalf("Your version of Go (%s) is too old. Camlistore requires Go 1.1 or later.")
+	}
+}
+
+func mirrorDir(src, dst string) error {
+	return filepath.Walk(src, func(path string, fi os.FileInfo, err error) error {
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		base := fi.Name()
+		if fi.IsDir() {
+			if base == "testdata" || base == "genfileembed" ||
+				(base == "cmd" && strings.Contains(path, "github.com/camlistore/goexif")) {
+				return filepath.SkipDir
+			}
+		}
+		if strings.HasSuffix(base, "_test.go") || !strings.HasSuffix(base, ".go") {
+			return nil
+		}
+		suffix, err := filepath.Rel(src, path)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("Failed to find Rel(%q, %q): %v", src, path, err)
+		}
+		return mirrorFile(path, filepath.Join(dst, suffix))
+	})
+}
+
+var wantDestFile = make(map[string]bool) // full dest filename => true
+
+func mirrorFile(src, dst string) error {
+	wantDestFile[dst] = true
+	sfi, err := os.Stat(src)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if sfi.Mode()&os.ModeType != 0 {
+		log.Fatalf("mirrorFile can't deal with non-regular file %s", src)
+	}
+	dfi, err := os.Stat(dst)
+	if err == nil &&
+		(dfi.Mode()&os.ModeType == 0) &&
+		dfi.Size() == sfi.Size() &&
+		dfi.ModTime().Unix() == sfi.ModTime().Unix() {
+		// Seems to not be modified.
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	dstDir := filepath.Dir(dst)
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(dstDir, 0755); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	df, err := os.Create(dst)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	sf, err := os.Open(src)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer sf.Close()
+
+	n, err := io.Copy(df, sf)
+	if err == nil && n != sfi.Size() {
+		err = fmt.Errorf("copied wrong size for %s -> %s: copied %d; want %d", src, dst, n, sfi.Size())
+	}
+	cerr := df.Close()
+	if err == nil {
+		err = cerr
+	}
+	return err
+}
+
+func deleteUnwantedOldMirrorFiles(dir string) {
+	filepath.Walk(dir, func(path string, fi os.FileInfo, err error) error {
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Fatalf("Error stating while cleaning %s: %v", path, err)
+		}
+		if fi.IsDir() {
+			return nil
+		}
+		if !wantDestFile[path] {
+			return os.Remove(path)
+		}
+		return nil
+	})
+}
+
+func haveSQLite() bool {
+	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
+		// TODO: Find some other non-pkg-config way to test, like
+		// just compiling a small Go program that sees whether
+		// it's available.
+		//
+		// For now:
+		return false
+	}
+	_, err := exec.LookPath("pkg-config")
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("No pkg-config found. Can't determine whether sqlite3 is available, and where.")
+	}
+	out, err := exec.Command("pkg-config", "--libs", "sqlite3").Output()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("Can't determine whether sqlite3 is available, and where. pkg-config error was: %v, %s", err, out)
+	}
+	return strings.TrimSpace(string(out)) != ""
+}