Index: Lib/distutils/archive_util.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/distutils/archive_util.py	(revision 67926)
+++ Lib/distutils/archive_util.py	(working copy)
@@ -15,45 +15,67 @@
 
 def make_tarball (base_name, base_dir, compress="gzip",
                   verbose=0, dry_run=0):
-    """Create a (possibly compressed) tar file from all the files under
-    'base_dir'.  'compress' must be "gzip" (the default), "compress",
-    "bzip2", or None.  Both "tar" and the compression utility named by
-    'compress' must be on the default program search path, so this is
-    probably Unix-specific.  The output tar file will be named 'base_dir' +
+    """Create a tar file (optionally compressed) containing 'base_dir'
+    with files.  'compress' must be "gzip" (the default), "compress",
+    "bzip2", or None.  For "compress" mode or if tarfile module is not
+    available, "tar" and the compression utility named by 'compress'
+    param must be on the default program search path.
+    
+    The output tar file will be named 'base_dir' +
     ".tar", possibly plus the appropriate compression extension (".gz",
     ".bz2" or ".Z").  Return the output filename.
     """
-    # XXX GNU tar 1.13 has a nifty option to add a prefix directory.
-    # It's pretty new, though, so we certainly can't require it --
-    # but it would be nice to take advantage of it to skip the
-    # "create a tree of hardlinks" step!  (Would also be nice to
-    # detect GNU tar to use its 'z' option and save a step.)
-
     compress_ext = { 'gzip': ".gz",
                      'bzip2': '.bz2',
                      'compress': ".Z" }
 
-    # flags for compression program, each element of list will be an argument
-    compress_flags = {'gzip': ["-f9"],
-                      'compress': ["-f"],
-                      'bzip2': ['-f9']}
+    # flags for tar compression program, each element of list will be an argument
+    compress_flags = { None : '-cf',
+                      'gzip': '-czf',
+                      'compress': '-cZf',
+                      'bzip2': '-cjf'}
 
     if compress is not None and compress not in compress_ext.keys():
         raise ValueError, \
-              "bad value for 'compress': must be None, 'gzip', or 'compress'"
+              "bad value for 'compress': must be None, 'gzip', 'bzip2' or 'compress'"
 
+    try:
+        import tarfile
+        # guard against CompressionError exceptions in case these are absent
+        if compress == 'gzip':
+            import gzip
+        elif compress == 'bzip2': 
+            import bz2
+    except ImportError:
+        tarfile = None
+
     archive_name = base_name + ".tar"
     mkpath(os.path.dirname(archive_name), dry_run=dry_run)
-    cmd = ["tar", "-cf", archive_name, base_dir]
-    spawn(cmd, dry_run=dry_run)
+    if not tarfile or compress == 'compress':
+        if compress:
+            archive_name = archive_name + compress_ext[compress]
+        cmd = ["tar", compress_flags[compress], archive_name, base_dir]
+        spawn(cmd, dry_run=dry_run)
 
-    if compress:
-        spawn([compress] + compress_flags[compress] + [archive_name],
-              dry_run=dry_run)
-        return archive_name + compress_ext[compress]
-    else:
-        return archive_name
+    elif not dry_run:
+        if not compress:
+            tf = tarfile.open(archive_name, "w:")
+        else:
+            archive_name =  archive_name + compress_ext[compress]
+            mode = {'gzip':'gz', 'bzip2':'bz2'}[compress]
 
+            # hack with chdir is needed until issue4750 is fixed
+            savepath = os.getcwdu()
+            tdir, tname = os.path.split(archive_name)
+            os.chdir(tdir)
+            tf = tarfile.open(tname, "w:%s" % mode)
+            os.chdir(savepath)
+
+        tf.add(base_dir)
+        tf.close()
+
+    return archive_name
+
 # make_tarball ()