Reorganization: ripped util.py to shreds, creating in the process:
  - file_util.py: operations on single files
  - dir_util.py: operations on whole directories or directory trees
  - dep_util.py: simple timestamp-based dependency analysis
  - archive_util.py: creation of archive (tar, zip, ...) files
The functions left in util.py are miscellany that don't fit in any of the
new files.
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/dep_util.py b/Lib/distutils/dep_util.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..97812ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Lib/distutils/dep_util.py
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+"""distutils.dep_util
+
+Utility functions for simple, timestamp-based dependency of files
+and groups of files; also, function based entirely on such
+timestamp dependency analysis."""
+
+# created 2000/04/03, Greg Ward (extracted from util.py)
+
+__revision__ = "$Id$"
+
+import os
+from distutils.errors import DistutilsFileError
+
+
+def newer (source, target):
+    """Return true if 'source' exists and is more recently modified than
+       'target', or if 'source' exists and 'target' doesn't.  Return
+       false if both exist and 'target' is the same age or younger than
+       'source'.  Raise DistutilsFileError if 'source' does not
+       exist."""
+
+    if not os.path.exists (source):
+        raise DistutilsFileError, "file '%s' does not exist" % source
+    if not os.path.exists (target):
+        return 1
+
+    from stat import ST_MTIME
+    mtime1 = os.stat(source)[ST_MTIME]
+    mtime2 = os.stat(target)[ST_MTIME]
+
+    return mtime1 > mtime2
+
+# newer ()
+
+
+def newer_pairwise (sources, targets):
+    """Walk two filename lists in parallel, testing if each source is newer
+       than its corresponding target.  Return a pair of lists (sources,
+       targets) where source is newer than target, according to the
+       semantics of 'newer()'."""
+
+    if len (sources) != len (targets):
+        raise ValueError, "'sources' and 'targets' must be same length"
+
+    # build a pair of lists (sources, targets) where  source is newer
+    n_sources = []
+    n_targets = []
+    for i in range (len (sources)):
+        if newer (sources[i], targets[i]):
+            n_sources.append (sources[i])
+            n_targets.append (targets[i])
+
+    return (n_sources, n_targets)
+
+# newer_pairwise ()
+
+
+def newer_group (sources, target, missing='error'):
+    """Return true if 'target' is out-of-date with respect to any
+       file listed in 'sources'.  In other words, if 'target' exists and
+       is newer than every file in 'sources', return false; otherwise
+       return true.  'missing' controls what we do when a source file is
+       missing; the default ("error") is to blow up with an OSError from
+       inside 'stat()'; if it is "ignore", we silently drop any missing
+       source files; if it is "newer", any missing source files make us
+       assume that 'target' is out-of-date (this is handy in "dry-run"
+       mode: it'll make you pretend to carry out commands that wouldn't
+       work because inputs are missing, but that doesn't matter because
+       you're not actually going to run the commands)."""
+
+    # If the target doesn't even exist, then it's definitely out-of-date.
+    if not os.path.exists (target):
+        return 1
+   
+    # Otherwise we have to find out the hard way: if *any* source file
+    # is more recent than 'target', then 'target' is out-of-date and
+    # we can immediately return true.  If we fall through to the end
+    # of the loop, then 'target' is up-to-date and we return false.
+    from stat import ST_MTIME
+    target_mtime = os.stat (target)[ST_MTIME]
+    for source in sources:
+        if not os.path.exists (source):
+            if missing == 'error':      # blow up when we stat() the file
+                pass                    
+            elif missing == 'ignore':   # missing source dropped from 
+                continue                #  target's dependency list
+            elif missing == 'newer':    # missing source means target is
+                return 1                #  out-of-date
+            
+        source_mtime = os.stat(source)[ST_MTIME]
+        if source_mtime > target_mtime:
+            return 1
+    else:
+        return 0
+
+# newer_group ()
+
+
+# XXX this isn't used anywhere, and worse, it has the same name as a method
+# in Command with subtly different semantics.  (This one just has one
+# source -> one dest; that one has many sources -> one dest.)  Nuke it?
+def make_file (src, dst, func, args,
+               verbose=0, update_message=None, noupdate_message=None):
+    """Makes 'dst' from 'src' (both filenames) by calling 'func' with
+       'args', but only if it needs to: i.e. if 'dst' does not exist or
+       'src' is newer than 'dst'."""
+
+    if newer (src, dst):
+        if verbose and update_message:
+            print update_message
+        apply (func, args)
+    else:
+        if verbose and noupdate_message:
+            print noupdate_message
+
+# make_file ()