diff -Nru -x '*pyc' ./command/build_ext.py /usr/lib/python2.5/distutils/command/build_ext.py
--- ./command/build_ext.py	2008-01-20 16:18:51.617059839 -0500
+++ /usr/lib/python2.5/distutils/command/build_ext.py	2008-01-19 22:38:16.693948159 -0500
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@
          "directory for compiled extension modules"),
         ('build-temp=', 't',
          "directory for temporary files (build by-products)"),
+        ('src-dir=', None, "directory holding the source [default: .]"),
         ('inplace', 'i',
          "ignore build-lib and put compiled extensions into the source " +
          "directory alongside your pure Python modules"),
@@ -114,6 +115,7 @@
         self.swig = None
         self.swig_cpp = None
         self.swig_opts = None
+        self.src_dir = None
 
     def finalize_options (self):
         from distutils import sysconfig
@@ -121,6 +123,7 @@
         self.set_undefined_options('build',
                                    ('build_lib', 'build_lib'),
                                    ('build_temp', 'build_temp'),
+                                   ('src_dir', 'src_dir'),
                                    ('compiler', 'compiler'),
                                    ('debug', 'debug'),
                                    ('force', 'force'))
@@ -226,6 +229,8 @@
         else:
             self.swig_opts = self.swig_opts.split(' ')
 
+        if self.src_dir is None:
+            self.src_dir = "."
     # finalize_options ()
 
 
@@ -423,7 +428,12 @@
                    "'sources' must be present and must be " +
                    "a list of source filenames") % ext.name
         sources = list(sources)
-
+        new_sources = []
+        for source in sources: 
+          new_sources.append(os.path.join(self.src_dir,source))
+        sources = new_sources
+        del new_sources
+        
         fullname = self.get_ext_fullname(ext.name)
         if self.inplace:
             # ignore build-lib -- put the compiled extension into
diff -Nru -x '*pyc' ./command/build.py /usr/lib/python2.5/distutils/command/build.py
--- ./command/build.py	2008-01-20 16:19:43.897510859 -0500
+++ /usr/lib/python2.5/distutils/command/build.py	2008-01-19 22:26:35.615900005 -0500
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@
          "build directory for scripts"),
         ('build-temp=', 't',
          "temporary build directory"),
+        ('src-dir=', None,
+         "source directory [default: '.']"),
         ('compiler=', 'c',
          "specify the compiler type"),
         ('debug', 'g',
@@ -64,6 +66,7 @@
         self.debug = None
         self.force = 0
         self.executable = None
+        self.src_dir = None
 
     def finalize_options (self):
 
diff -Nru -x '*pyc' ./command/build_py.py /usr/lib/python2.5/distutils/command/build_py.py
--- ./command/build_py.py	2008-01-20 16:18:51.565059391 -0500
+++ /usr/lib/python2.5/distutils/command/build_py.py	2008-01-19 22:39:13.514438346 -0500
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
     user_options = [
         ('build-lib=', 'd', "directory to \"build\" (copy) to"),
         ('compile', 'c', "compile .py to .pyc"),
+        ('src-dir=', None, "directory holding the source [default: .]"),
         ('no-compile', None, "don't compile .py files [default]"),
         ('optimize=', 'O',
          "also compile with optimization: -O1 for \"python -O\", "
@@ -42,10 +43,12 @@
         self.compile = 0
         self.optimize = 0
         self.force = None
+        self.src_dir = None
 
     def finalize_options (self):
         self.set_undefined_options('build',
                                    ('build_lib', 'build_lib'),
+                                   ('src_dir', 'src_dir'),
                                    ('force', 'force'))
 
         # Get the distribution options that are aliases for build_py
@@ -67,6 +70,9 @@
                 assert 0 <= self.optimize <= 2
             except (ValueError, AssertionError):
                 raise DistutilsOptionError, "optimize must be 0, 1, or 2"
+        if self.src_dir is None:
+            self.src_dir = "."
+
 
     def run (self):
 
@@ -156,9 +162,9 @@
 
         if not self.package_dir:
             if path:
-                return apply(os.path.join, path)
+                return os.path.join(self.src_dir,apply(os.path.join, path))
             else:
-                return ''
+                return self.src_dir
         else:
             tail = []
             while path:
@@ -169,7 +175,7 @@
                     del path[-1]
                 else:
                     tail.insert(0, pdir)
-                    return apply(os.path.join, tail)
+                    return os.path.join(self.src_dir,apply(os.path.join, tail))
             else:
                 # Oops, got all the way through 'path' without finding a
                 # match in package_dir.  If package_dir defines a directory
@@ -183,9 +189,9 @@
                     tail.insert(0, pdir)
 
                 if tail:
-                    return apply(os.path.join, tail)
+                    return os.path.join(self.src_dir,apply(os.path.join, tail))
                 else:
-                    return ''
+                    return self.src_dir
 
     # get_package_dir ()
 
@@ -198,8 +204,11 @@
         # circumvent them.
         if package_dir != "":
             if not os.path.exists(package_dir):
-                raise DistutilsFileError, \
+                if self.src_dir != ".":
+                    raise DistutilsFileError, \
                       "package directory '%s' does not exist" % package_dir
+                else:
+                    os.makedirs(package_dir)
             if not os.path.isdir(package_dir):
                 raise DistutilsFileError, \
                       ("supposed package directory '%s' exists, " +