diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c478a67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+*.d
+*.o
+/.features
+/.dependencies
+/.libdeps
+/build_details.txt
+/flashrom
+/flashrom.exe
+/flashrom.8
+
+/util/ich_descriptors_tool/ich_descriptors_tool
+/util/ich_descriptors_tool/ich_descriptors_tool.exe
+/util/ich_descriptors_tool/.dep
+/util/ich_descriptors_tool/.obj
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 4ebde1e..c880764 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -526,18 +526,20 @@ LIB_OBJS = layout.o flashrom.o udelay.o programmer.o helpers.o
 
 CLI_OBJS = cli_classic.o cli_output.o cli_common.o print.o
 
-# Set the flashrom version string from the highest revision number of the checked out flashrom files.
+# Set the flashrom version string from the repository metadata (cf. util/getrevision.sh).
 # Note to packagers: Any tree exported with "make export" or "make tarball"
-# will not require subversion. The downloadable snapshots are already exported.
-SVNVERSION := $(shell ./util/getrevision.sh -u 2>/dev/null )
-
-RELEASE := 0.9.9
-VERSION := $(RELEASE)-$(SVNVERSION)
-RELEASENAME ?= $(VERSION)
+# will not require git. The downloadable snapshots are already exported.
+VERSION := $(shell ./util/getrevision.sh --revision)
+# VERSION equals "offline" if online access is required but the respective git config variable is not set yet.
+ifeq ($(VERSION),offline)
+  $(error Aborting.)
+endif
+SCMDEF := -D'FLASHROM_VERSION="$(VERSION)"'
 
-SVNDEF := -D'FLASHROM_VERSION="$(VERSION)"'
+# No spaces in release names unless set explicitly
+RELEASENAME ?= $(shell echo "$(VERSION)" | sed -e 's/ /_/')
 
-# Inform user if there is no meaningful version string. If there is version information from a VCS print
+# Inform user about the version string used. If there is no version information from a VCS then print
 # something anyway because $(info...) will print a line break in any case which would look suspicious.
 # The && between the echos is a workaround for old versions of GNU make that issue the error "unterminated
 # variable reference" if a semicolon is used instead.
@@ -1024,7 +1026,7 @@ libflashrom.a: $(LIBFLASHROM_OBJS)
 TAROPTIONS = $(shell LC_ALL=C tar --version|grep -q GNU && echo "--owner=root --group=root")
 
 %.o: %.c .features
-	$(CC) -MMD $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $(FLASHROM_CFLAGS) $(FEATURE_CFLAGS) $(SVNDEF) -o $@ -c $<
+	$(CC) -MMD $(CFLAGS) $(CPPFLAGS) $(FLASHROM_CFLAGS) $(FEATURE_CFLAGS) $(SCMDEF) -o $@ -c $<
 
 # Make sure to add all names of generated binaries here.
 # This includes all frontends and libflashrom.
@@ -1344,12 +1346,16 @@ endif
 	@$(DIFF) -q .features.tmp .features >/dev/null 2>&1 && rm .features.tmp || mv .features.tmp .features
 	@rm -f .featuretest.c .featuretest$(EXEC_SUFFIX)
 
+
+$(shell ./util/git-hooks/install.sh) # Automatically install if need be
+
 $(PROGRAM).8.html: $(PROGRAM).8
 	@groff -mandoc -Thtml $< >$@
 
+MAN_DATE := $(shell ./util/getrevision.sh -d $(PROGRAM).8.tmpl 2>/dev/null)
 $(PROGRAM).8: $(PROGRAM).8.tmpl
 	@# Add the man page change date and version to the man page
-	@sed -e 's#.TH FLASHROM 8 ".*".*#.TH FLASHROM 8 "$(shell ./util/getrevision.sh -d $(PROGRAM).8.tmpl 2>/dev/null)" "$(VERSION)"#' <$< >$@
+	@sed -e 's#.TH FLASHROM 8 .*#.TH FLASHROM 8 "$(MAN_DATE)" "$(VERSION)" "$(MAN_DATE)"#' <$< >$@
 
 install: $(PROGRAM)$(EXEC_SUFFIX) $(PROGRAM).8
 	mkdir -p $(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/sbin
@@ -1358,12 +1364,17 @@ install: $(PROGRAM)$(EXEC_SUFFIX) $(PROGRAM).8
 	$(INSTALL) -m 0644 $(PROGRAM).8 $(DESTDIR)$(MANDIR)/man8
 
 export: $(PROGRAM).8
-	@rm -rf $(EXPORTDIR)/flashrom-$(RELEASENAME)
-	@svn export -r BASE . $(EXPORTDIR)/flashrom-$(RELEASENAME)
-	@sed "s/^SVNVERSION.*/SVNVERSION := $(SVNVERSION)/" Makefile >$(EXPORTDIR)/flashrom-$(RELEASENAME)/Makefile
-	@cp $(PROGRAM).8 "$(EXPORTDIR)/flashrom-$(RELEASENAME)/$(PROGRAM).8"
-	@svn log >$(EXPORTDIR)/flashrom-$(RELEASENAME)/ChangeLog
-	@echo Exported $(EXPORTDIR)/flashrom-$(RELEASENAME)/
+	@rm -rf "$(EXPORTDIR)/flashrom-$(RELEASENAME)"
+	@mkdir -p "$(EXPORTDIR)/flashrom-$(RELEASENAME)"
+	@git archive HEAD | tar -x -C "$(EXPORTDIR)/flashrom-$(RELEASENAME)"
+	@sed	-e  's/^VERSION :=.*/VERSION := $(VERSION)/' \
+		-e 's/^MAN_DATE :=.*/MAN_DATE := $(MAN_DATE)/' \
+		-e 's#./util/getrevision.sh -c#false#' \
+		Makefile >"$(EXPORTDIR)/flashrom-$(RELEASENAME)/Makefile"
+	@for f in `git ls-tree -r -t --full-name --name-only HEAD` ; do \
+		touch -d `git log --pretty=format:%cI -1 HEAD -- "$$f"` "$(EXPORTDIR)/flashrom-$(RELEASENAME)/$$f"; \
+	done
+	@echo "Exported $(EXPORTDIR)/flashrom-$(RELEASENAME)/"
 
 tarball: export
 	@tar cjf $(EXPORTDIR)/flashrom-$(RELEASENAME).tar.bz2 -C $(EXPORTDIR)/ $(TAROPTIONS) flashrom-$(RELEASENAME)/
diff --git a/flashrom.c b/flashrom.c
index 25e53f2..1a43303 100644
--- a/flashrom.c
+++ b/flashrom.c
@@ -1801,7 +1801,7 @@ void print_buildinfo(void)
 
 void print_version(void)
 {
-	msg_ginfo("flashrom v%s", flashrom_version);
+	msg_ginfo("flashrom %s", flashrom_version);
 	print_sysinfo();
 	msg_ginfo("\n");
 }
diff --git a/util/getrevision.sh b/util/getrevision.sh
index 1012058..1240e95 100755
--- a/util/getrevision.sh
+++ b/util/getrevision.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 # Copyright (C) 2005 coresystems GmbH <stepan@coresystems.de>
 # Copyright (C) 2009,2010 Carl-Daniel Hailfinger
 # Copyright (C) 2010 Chromium OS Authors
-# Copyright (C) 2013 Stefan Tauner
+# Copyright (C) 2013-2016 Stefan Tauner
 #
 # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -30,31 +30,73 @@ export LC_ALL=C
 # nor local times or dates
 export TZ=UTC0
 
-# Helper functions
-# First argument is the path to inspect (usually optional; w/o it the whole repository will be considered)
-svn_has_local_changes() {
-	svn status "$1" | egrep '^ *[ADMR] *' >/dev/null
+# List of important upstream branches...
+upstream_branches="stable staging"
+upstream_url="https://flashrom.org/git/flashrom.git"
+upstream_patterns="github\.com.flashrom/flashrom\.git|flashrom\.org.git/flashrom\.git"
+
+upcache_prefix="refs/flashrom_org/"
+# Generate upcache_refs
+for b in $upstream_branches ; do
+	upcache_refs="$upcache_refs ${upcache_prefix}$b"
+done
+
+# We need to update our upstream information sometimes so that we can create detailed version information.
+# To that end the code below fetches parts of the upstream repository via https.
+# This takes about one second or less under normal circumstances.
+#
+# It can be called manually, but is usually called via
+#  - the Makefile (implicitly via revision()) when there is no upstream information in any existing remote
+forced_update() {
+	local rev_remote_refs
+	for ref in $upcache_refs ; do
+		rev_remote_refs="$rev_remote_refs +${ref##*/}:$ref"
+	done
+	git fetch -q "$upstream_url" --tags $rev_remote_refs && echo "Success."
 }
 
+update() {
+	offline=$(git config flashrom.offline-builds 2>/dev/null)
+	if [ -z "$offline" ]; then
+		echo "To produce useful version information the build process needs access to the commit
+history from an upstream repository. If no git remote is pointing to one we
+can store the necessary information out of sight and update it on every build.
+To enable this functionality and fetch the upstream commits from $upstream_url
+please execute 'git config flashrom.offline-builds false' or add one of the
+upstream repositories as git remote to rely on that information.
+However, if you want to work completely offline and generate meaningless version
+strings then disable it with 'git config flashrom.offline-builds true'
+You can force updating the local commit cache with '$0 --forced-update'">&2
+		return 1
+	elif [ "x$offline" = "xfalse" ]; then
+		echo "Fetching commit history from upstream repository $upstream_url
+To disable any network activity execute 'git config flashrom.offline-builds true'.">&2
+		forced_update >/dev/null
+	else
+		echo "Fetching commit history from upstream is disabled - version strings might be misleading.
+To ensure proper version strings and allow network access run 'git config flashrom.offline-builds false'.">&2
+	fi
+	return 0
+}
+
+# Helper functions
+# First argument is the path to inspect (usually optional; w/o it the whole repository will be considered)
 git_has_local_changes() {
 	git update-index -q --refresh >/dev/null
 	! git diff-index --quiet HEAD -- "$1"
 }
 
 git_last_commit() {
+	# git rev-parse --short HEAD would suffice if repository as a whole is of interest (no $1)
 	git log --pretty=format:"%h" -1 -- "$1"
 }
 
-svn_is_file_tracked() {
-	svn info "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1
-}
-
 git_is_file_tracked() {
 	git ls-files --error-unmatch -- "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1
 }
 
 is_file_tracked() {
-	svn_is_file_tracked "$1" || git_is_file_tracked "$1"
+	git_is_file_tracked "$1"
 }
 
 # Tries to find a remote source for the changes committed locally.
@@ -89,13 +131,7 @@ git_url() {
 scm_url() {
 	local url=
 
-	# for a primitive VCS like subversion finding the URL is easy: there is only one upstream host
-	if svn_is_file_tracked "$1" ; then
-		url="$(svn info "$1" 2>/dev/null |
-		       grep URL: |
-		       sed 's/.*URL:[[:blank:]]*//;s/:\/\/.*@/:\/\//' |
-		       grep ^.)"
-	elif git_is_file_tracked "$1" ; then
+	if git_is_file_tracked "$1" ; then
 		url="$(git_url "$1")"
 	else
 		return ${EXIT_FAILURE}
@@ -116,29 +152,7 @@ timestamp() {
 	# freebsd	date [-jnu]  [-d dst] [-r seconds] [-f fmt date | [[[[[cc]yy]mm]dd]HH]MM[.ss]] [+format] [...]
 	# dragonflybsd	date [-jnu]  [-d dst] [-r seconds] [-f fmt date | [[[[[cc]yy]mm]dd]HH]MM[.ss]] [+format] [...]
 	# openbsd	date [-aju]  [-d dst] [-r seconds] [+format] [[[[[[cc]yy]mm]dd]HH]MM[.SS]] [...]
-	if svn_is_file_tracked "$2" ; then
-		if svn_has_local_changes "$2"; then
-			t=$(date -u "$1")
-		else
-			# No local changes, get date of the last log record. Subversion provides that in
-			# ISO 8601 format when using the --xml switch. The sed call extracts that ignoring any
-			# fractional parts started by a comma or a dot.
-			local last_commit_date="$(svn info --xml "$2"| \
-						  sed -n -e 's/<date>\([^,\.]*\)\([\.,].*\)*Z<\/date>/\1Z/p')"
-
-			case $(uname) in
-			# Most BSD dates do not support parsing date values from user input with -d but all of
-			# them support parsing the syntax with [[[[[[cc]yy]mm]dd]HH]MM[.ss]]. We have to
-			# transform the ISO8601 date first though.
-			NetBSD|OpenBSD|DragonFly|FreeBSD)
-				last_commit_date="$(echo ${last_commit_date} | \
-				   sed -n -e 's/\(....\)-\(..\)-\(..\)T\(..\):\(..\):\(..\)Z/\1\2\3\4\5\.\6/p')"
-				t=$(date -u -j "${last_commit_date}" "$1" 2>/dev/null);;
-			*)
-				t=$(date -u -d "${last_commit_date}" "$1" 2>/dev/null);;
-			esac
-		fi
-	elif git_is_file_tracked "$2" ; then
+	if git_is_file_tracked "$2" ; then
 		# are there local changes?
 		if git_has_local_changes "$2" ; then
 			t=$(date -u "${1}")
@@ -163,55 +177,102 @@ timestamp() {
 	echo "${t}"
 }
 
-# Retrieve local SCM revision info. This is useful if we're working in a different SCM than upstream and/or
-# have local changes.
-local_revision() {
-	local r=
-
-	if svn_is_file_tracked "$1" ; then
-		r=$(svn_has_local_changes "$1" && echo "dirty")
-	elif git_is_file_tracked "$1" ; then
-		r=$(git_last_commit "$1")
-
-		local svn_base=$(git log --grep=git-svn-id -1 --format='%h')
-		if [ "$svn_base" != "" ] ; then
-			local diff_to_svn=$(git rev-list --count ${svn_base}..${r})
-			if [ "$diff_to_svn" -gt 0 ] ; then
-				r="$r-$diff_to_svn"
-			fi
-		fi
+tag() {
+	local t=
 
-		if git_has_local_changes "$1" ; then
-			r="$r-dirty"
+	if git_is_file_tracked "$1" ; then
+		local sha=$(git_last_commit "$1")
+		t=$(git describe --abbrev=0 "$sha")
+	fi
+	if [ -z "$t" ]; then
+		t="unknown" # default to unknown
+	fi
+	echo "${t}"
+}
+
+find_upremote() {
+	# Try to find upstream's remote name
+	for remote in $(git remote) ; do
+		local url=$(git ls-remote --get-url $remote)
+		if echo "$url" | grep -q -E "$upstream_patterns" ; then
+			echo "$remote"
+			return
 		fi
+	done
+}
+
+revision() {
+	local sha=$(git_last_commit "$1" 2>/dev/null)
+	# No git no fun
+	if [ -z "$sha" ]; then
+		echo "unknown"
+		return
+	fi
+
+	local r="$sha"
+	if git_has_local_changes "$1" ; then
+		r="$r-dirty"
+	fi
+
+	# sha + possibly dirty info is not exactly verbose, therefore the code below tries to use tags and
+	# branches from the upstream repos to derive a more previse version string.
+	# To that end we try to use the existing remotes first.
+	# If the upstream repos (and its mirrors) are not available as remotes, use a shadow copy instead.
+
+	local up_refs
+	local up_remote=$(find_upremote)
+	if [ -n "$up_remote" ]; then
+		for b in $upstream_branches ; do
+			up_refs="$up_refs ${up_remote}/${b}"
+		done
 	else
-		return ${EXIT_FAILURE}
+		update || { echo "offline" ; return ; }
+		up_refs=$upcache_refs
 	fi
 
-	echo "${r}"
-}
+	# Find nearest commit contained in this branch that is also in any of the up_refs, i.e. the branch point
+	# of the current branch. This might be the latest commit if it's in any of the upstream branches.
+	local merge_point=$(git merge-base ${sha} ${up_refs})
+	local upstream_branch
+	if [ -z "$merge_point" ]; then
+		echo "$sha"
+		return
+	fi
 
-# Get the upstream flashrom revision stored in SVN metadata.
-upstream_revision() {
-	local r=
-
-	if svn_is_file_tracked "$1" ; then
-		r=$(svn info "$1" 2>/dev/null | \
-		    grep "Last Changed Rev:" | \
-		    sed -e "s/^Last Changed Rev: *//" -e "s/\([0-9]*\).*/r\1/" | \
-		    grep "r[0-9]")
-	elif git_is_file_tracked "$1" ; then
-		# If this is a "native" git-svn clone we could use git svn log:
-		# git svn log --oneline -1 | sed 's/^r//;s/[[:blank:]].*//' or even git svn find-rev
-		# but it is easier to just grep for the git-svn-id unconditionally
-		r=$(git log --grep=git-svn-id -1 -- "$1" | \
-		    grep git-svn-id | \
-		    sed 's/.*@/r/;s/[[:blank:]].*//')
+	# If the current commit is reachable from any remote branch, append the branch name and its
+	# distance to the nearest earlier tag to that tag name itself (tag-distance-branch).
+	# If multiple branches are reachable then we use the newest one (by commit date).
+	# If none is reachable we use the nearest tag and ? for distances and remote branch name.
+
+	local cnt_upstream_branch2sha=$(git rev-list --count "${merge_point}..${sha}" 2>/dev/null)
+
+	local lasttag=$(git describe --abbrev=0 "$merge_point" 2>/dev/null)
+	if [ -z "$lasttag" ]; then
+		echo "Could not find tag reachable from merge point!">&2
+		echo "$sha"
+		return
 	fi
 
-	if [ -z "$r" ]; then
-		r="unknown" # default to unknown
+	local cnt_tag2upstream_branch
+	for ref in $up_refs ; do
+		if git merge-base --is-ancestor ${merge_point} ${ref}; then
+			upstream_branch=${ref##*/} # remove everything till last /
+			cnt_tag2upstream_branch=$(git rev-list --count "${lasttag}..${merge_point}" 2>/dev/null)
+			break
+		fi
+	done
+
+	if [ "$cnt_upstream_branch2sha" -gt 0 ]; then
+		r="$cnt_upstream_branch2sha-$r"
+	fi
+	if [ "$cnt_tag2upstream_branch" -gt 0 ]; then
+		if [ -n "$upstream_branch" ]; then
+			r="$upstream_branch-$r"
+		fi
+		r="$cnt_tag2upstream_branch-$r"
 	fi
+	r="$lasttag-$r"
+
 	echo "${r}"
 }
 
@@ -228,16 +289,20 @@ Commands
         this message
     -c or --check
         test if path is under version control at all
-    -l or --local
-        local revision information including an indicator for uncommitted changes
-    -u or --upstream
-        upstream revision
-    -U or --url
+    -T or --tag
+        returns the name of the last release/tag
+    -r or --revision
+        return unique revision information including the last tag and an indicator for uncommitted changes
+    -u or --url
         URL associated with the latest commit
     -d or --date
         date of most recent modification
     -t or --timestamp
         timestamp of most recent modification
+    -U or --update
+        update local shadow copy of upstream commits if need be and offline builds are not enforced
+          --forced-update
+        force updating the local shadow copy of upstream commits
 "
 	return
 }
@@ -260,15 +325,15 @@ main() {
 		-h|--help)
 			action=show_help;
 			shift;;
-		-l|--local)
+		-T|--tag)
 			check_action $1
-			action=local_revision
+			action=tag
 			shift;;
-		-u|--upstream)
+		-r|--revision)
 			check_action $1
-			action=upstream_revision
+			action=revision
 			shift;;
-		-U|--url)
+		-u|--url)
 			check_action $1
 			action=scm_url
 			shift;;
@@ -280,9 +345,17 @@ main() {
 			check_action $1
 			action="timestamp +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ" # There is only one valid time format! ISO 8601
 			shift;;
+		-U|--update)
+			check_action $1
+			action=update
+			shift;;
+		--forced-update)
+			check_action $1
+			action=forced_update
+			shift;;
 		-c|--check)
-			check_action=$1
-			action="is_tracked"
+			check_action $1
+			action=is_tracked
 			shift;;
 		-*)
 			show_help;
diff --git a/util/git-hooks/applypatch-msg b/util/git-hooks/applypatch-msg
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..32ff6c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/git-hooks/applypatch-msg
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# A hook script to check the commit log message taken by
+# applypatch from an e-mail message (via git-am).
+# We simply do the same as for other commit messages
+#
+# The hook should exit with non-zero status after issuing an
+# appropriate message if it wants to stop the commit.  The hook is
+# allowed to edit the commit message file.
+#
+
+. git-sh-setup
+test -x "$GIT_DIR/hooks/commit-msg" &&
+	exec "$GIT_DIR/hooks/commit-msg" ${1+"$@"}
+:
diff --git a/util/git-hooks/commit-msg b/util/git-hooks/commit-msg
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..710fe78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/git-hooks/commit-msg
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# A hook script to check the commit log message.
+# Called by "git commit" with one argument, the name of the file
+# that has the commit message.  The hook should exit with non-zero
+# status after issuing an appropriate message if it wants to stop the
+# commit.  The hook is allowed to edit the commit message file.
+#
+
+# Catches duplicate Signed-off-by lines.
+test "" = "$(grep '^Signed-off-by: ' "$1" |
+	 sort | uniq -c | sed -e '/^[ 	]*1[ 	]/d')" || {
+	echo "Duplicate Signed-off-by lines." >&2
+	exit 1
+}
diff --git a/util/git-hooks/install.sh b/util/git-hooks/install.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..84151d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/git-hooks/install.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/bin/sh -e
+
+root=$(git rev-parse --show-cdup 2>/dev/null) || ( echo "Not under git control. Cannot install git hooks." >&2 ; exit 0 )
+dst="${root}"$(git rev-parse --git-path hooks/)
+src=util/git-hooks/ # relative to root
+hooks=$(cd "${root}${src}" && git ls-files -c | grep -Ev 'install.sh|wrapper.sh')
+
+for h in $hooks; do
+	# Test if hook is not already installed, i.e. doesn't point at the wrapper
+	if [ ! "${dst}$h" -ef "${root}${src}wrapper.sh" ]; then
+		# preserve custom hooks if any
+		if [ -e "${dst}$h" ]; then
+			mv "${dst}$h" "${dst}$h.local"
+		fi
+		ln -s "../../${src}wrapper.sh" "${dst}$h"
+	fi
+done
diff --git a/util/git-hooks/pre-applypatch b/util/git-hooks/pre-applypatch
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..2ed28f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/git-hooks/pre-applypatch
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# An example hook script to verify what is about to be committed
+# by applypatch from an e-mail message.
+#
+# The hook should exit with non-zero status after issuing an
+# appropriate message if it wants to stop the commit.
+
+. git-sh-setup
+test -x "$GIT_DIR/hooks/pre-commit" &&
+	exec "$GIT_DIR/hooks/pre-commit" ${1+"$@"}
+:
diff --git a/util/git-hooks/pre-commit b/util/git-hooks/pre-commit
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..dbccb9e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/git-hooks/pre-commit
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# A hook script to verify what is about to be committed.
+# Called by "git commit" with no arguments.  The hook should
+# exit with non-zero status after issuing an appropriate message if
+# it wants to stop the commit.
+
+# Check for whitespace errors
+git diff-index --check --cached HEAD -- || exit 1
diff --git a/util/git-hooks/pre-push b/util/git-hooks/pre-push
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..3fab8c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/git-hooks/pre-push
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# A hook script to verify what is about to be pushed.  Called by "git
+# push" after it has checked the remote status, but before anything has been
+# pushed.  If this script exits with a non-zero status nothing will be pushed.
+#
+# This hook is called with the following parameters:
+#
+# $1 -- Name of the remote to which the push is being done
+# $2 -- URL to which the push is being done
+#
+# If pushing without using a named remote those arguments will be equal.
+#
+# Information about the commits which are being pushed is supplied as lines to
+# the standard input in the form:
+#
+#   <local ref> <local sha1> <remote ref> <remote sha1>
+
+remote="$1"
+url="$2"
+
+zero=0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
+
+upstream_pattern="flashrom.org.*git/flashrom.git"
+precious_branches=( stable staging )
+
+# Only care about the upstream repository
+if echo "$url" | grep -q -v -E "$upstream_pattern" ; then
+	exit 0
+fi
+
+while read local_ref local_sha remote_ref remote_sha ; do
+	if [ "$remote_ref" != "refs/heads/staging" -a "$remote_ref" != "refs/heads/stable" ]; then
+		echo "Feature branches not allowed ($remote_ref)." >&2
+		exit 1
+	fi
+
+	if [ "$local_sha" = $zero ]; then
+		echo "Deletion of branches is prohibited." >&2
+		exit 1
+	else
+		if [ "$remote_sha" = "$zero" ]; then
+			echo "No new branches allowed." >&2
+			exit 1
+		else
+			range="$remote_sha..$local_sha"
+		fi
+
+		# Check for Signed-off-by and Acked-by
+		commit=$(git rev-list -n 1 --all-match --invert-grep -E \
+			--grep '^Signed-off-by: .+ <.+@.+\..+>$' --grep '^Acked-by: .+ <.+@.+\..+>$' "$range")
+		if [ -n "$commit" ]; then
+			echo "No Signoff or Ack found in commit $local_sha in $local_ref, not pushing." >&2
+			exit 1
+		fi
+
+		# Make _really_ sure we do not rewrite precious history
+		for lbranch in "${precious_branches[@]}"; do
+			if [ "$remote_ref" = "refs/heads/$lbranch" ]; then
+				nonreachable=$(git rev-list $remote_sha ^$local_sha)
+				if [ -n "$nonreachable" ]; then
+					echo "Only fast-forward pushes are allowed on $lbranch." >&2
+					echo "$nonreachable is not included in $remote_sha while pusing to $remote_ref" >&2
+					exit 1
+				fi
+			fi
+		done
+
+		# FIXME: check commit log format (subject without full stop at the end etc).
+		# FIXME: do buildbot checks if authorized?
+	fi
+done
+
+exit 0
diff --git a/util/git-hooks/wrapper.sh b/util/git-hooks/wrapper.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..3fc3e05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/git-hooks/wrapper.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+if [ -x $0.local ]; then
+	$0.local "$@" || exit $?
+fi
+
+hook=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"/util/git-hooks/"$(basename $0)
+if [ -x $hook ]; then
+	$hook "$@" || exit $?
+fi
