diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3e07e241b..d840ae48c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -35,3 +35,6 @@
 /debian/libapt-pkg*.install
 /debian/libapt-inst*.install
 /debian/libapt-pkg-dev.install
+/vendor/current
+/vendor/debian/sources.list
+/vendor/ubuntu/sources.list
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index fb843983c..394149bf1 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ default: startup all
 
 .PHONY: headers library clean veryclean all binary program doc test update-po
 all headers library clean veryclean binary program doc manpages debiandoc test update-po startup dirs:
+	$(MAKE) -C vendor $@
 	$(MAKE) -C apt-pkg $@
 	$(MAKE) -C apt-inst $@
 	$(MAKE) -C apt-private $@
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@ all headers library clean veryclean binary program doc manpages debiandoc test u
 	$(MAKE) -C dselect $@
 	$(MAKE) -C doc $@
 	$(MAKE) -C po $@
-	$(MAKE) -C test $@ 
+	$(MAKE) -C test $@
 
 all headers library clean veryclean binary program doc manpages debiandoc test update-po: startup dirs
 
diff --git a/doc/apt-verbatim.ent b/doc/apt-verbatim.ent
index 0d0d95c7a..30b0c7fe0 100644
--- a/doc/apt-verbatim.ent
+++ b/doc/apt-verbatim.ent
@@ -221,11 +221,11 @@
 <!-- this will be updated by 'prepare-release' -->
 <!ENTITY apt-product-version "0.9.7.6ubuntu2">
 
-<!-- Codenames for debian releases -->
+<!-- (Code)names for various things used all over the place -->
 <!ENTITY oldstable-codename "squeeze">
 <!ENTITY stable-codename "wheezy">
 <!ENTITY testing-codename "jessie">
-<!ENTITY stable-version "7.0">
+<!ENTITY stable-version "7">
 <!ENTITY ubuntu-codename "precise">
 
 <!-- good and bad just refers to matching and not matching a pattern…
diff --git a/doc/makefile b/doc/makefile
index 274fbc278..ebaca908f 100644
--- a/doc/makefile
+++ b/doc/makefile
@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@ include $(DEBIANDOC_H)
 
 doc: manpages debiandoc
 
-examples/sources.list: examples/sources.list.in apt-verbatim.ent
-	sed -e 's#&stable-codename;#$(shell grep --max-count=1 '^<!ENTITY stable-codename "' apt-verbatim.ent | cut -d'"' -f 2)#g' examples/sources.list.in > examples/sources.list
+examples/sources.list: ../vendor/current/sources.list
+	ln -sf $(shell readlink -f $^) $@
+
 
 # Examples
 SOURCE = examples/apt.conf examples/sources.list examples/configure-index examples/apt-https-method-example.conf
@@ -23,8 +24,8 @@ include $(COPY_H)
 
 .PHONY: clean clean/subdirs veryclean veryclean/subdirs manpages/subdirs debiandoc/subdirs all binary doc stats
 
-clean: clean/subdirs
-veryclean: veryclean/subdirs
+clean: clean/subdirs clean/examples
+veryclean: veryclean/subdirs clean/examples
 manpages: manpages/subdirs
 debiandoc: debiandoc/subdirs
 
@@ -41,6 +42,9 @@ debiandoc/subdirs manpages/subdirs clean/subdirs veryclean/subdirs:
 		$(MAKE) -C $$dir $(patsubst %/subdirs,%,$@); \
 	done
 
+clean/examples:
+	rm -f examples/sources.list
+
 stats:
 	for i in po/*.po; do echo -n "$$i: "; msgfmt --output-file=/dev/null --statistics $$i; done
 
diff --git a/vendor/debian/makefile b/vendor/debian/makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..41202c6a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vendor/debian/makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# -*- make -*-
+BASE=../..
+SUBDIR=vendor/debian
+
+# Bring in the default rules
+include ../../buildlib/defaults.mak
+
+doc: sources.list
+
+sources.list: sources.list.in ../../doc/apt-verbatim.ent
+	sed -e 's#&stable-codename;#$(shell grep --max-count=1 '^<!ENTITY stable-codename "' ../../doc/apt-verbatim.ent | cut -d'"' -f 2)#g' $^ > $@
diff --git a/doc/examples/sources.list.in b/vendor/debian/sources.list.in
similarity index 100%
rename from doc/examples/sources.list.in
rename to vendor/debian/sources.list.in
diff --git a/vendor/makefile b/vendor/makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a6d53abd0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vendor/makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+# -*- make -*-
+BASE=..
+SUBDIR=vendor
+
+# Bring in the default rules
+include ../buildlib/defaults.mak
+
+all headers library binary program doc manpages debiandoc test update-po startup dirs: current
+all: all/subdirs
+binary: binary/subdirs
+doc: doc/subdirs
+clean: clean/subdirs
+veryclean: veryclean/subdirs
+dirs: dirs/subdirs
+
+all/subdirs binary/subdirs doc/subdirs dirs/subdirs:
+	$(MAKE) -C current $(patsubst %/subdirs,%,$@)
+
+clean/subdirs veryclean/subdirs:
+	test ! -e current || $(MAKE) -C current $(patsubst %/subdirs,%,$@)
+
+current:
+	rm -f $@
+	# search for an exact match to use the correct sources.list example
+	find -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d | cut -d'/' -f 2 | while read DISTRO; do \
+		if dpkg-vendor --is $$DISTRO; then \
+			ln -s $$DISTRO $@; \
+			break; \
+		fi; \
+	done
+	# if we haven't found a specific, look for a deriving in hardcoded order
+	test -e $@ || \
+		(dpkg-vendor --derives-from ubuntu && cp ln -s ubuntu $@ ) || \
+		ln -s debian $@
+
+.PHONY: clean veryclean all binary vendor
+
+clean: clean/current
+
+clean/current:
+	test ! -e current || $(MAKE) -C current clean
+	rm -f current
diff --git a/vendor/ubuntu/makefile b/vendor/ubuntu/makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..388a529a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vendor/ubuntu/makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# -*- make -*-
+BASE=../..
+SUBDIR=vendor/ubuntu
+
+# Bring in the default rules
+include ../../buildlib/defaults.mak
+
+doc: sources.list
+
+sources.list: sources.list.in ../../doc/apt-verbatim.ent
+	sed -e 's#&ubuntu-codename;#$(shell grep --max-count=1 '^<!ENTITY ubuntu-codename "' ../../doc/apt-verbatim.ent | cut -d'"' -f 2)#g' $^ > $@
diff --git a/vendor/ubuntu/sources.list.in b/vendor/ubuntu/sources.list.in
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b9aa8c3d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vendor/ubuntu/sources.list.in
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+ # See sources.list(5) manpage for more information
+ # Remember that CD-ROMs, DVDs and such are managed through the apt-cdrom tool.
+deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu &ubuntu-codename; main restricted
+deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu &ubuntu-codename; main restricted
+
+deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu &ubuntu-codename;-security main restricted
+deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu &ubuntu-codename;-security main restricted
+
+deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu &ubuntu-codename;-updates main restricted
+deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu &ubuntu-codename;-updates main restricted