diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/__init__.py b/Lib/distutils/command/__init__.py
index 3a9a53e..870005d 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/__init__.py
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@
            'bdist_dumb',
            'bdist_rpm',
            'bdist_wininst',
-           'checkdep',
            # These two are reserved for future use:
            #'bdist_sdux',
            #'bdist_pkgtool',
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/checkdep.py b/Lib/distutils/command/checkdep.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 729002c..0000000
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/checkdep.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,70 +0,0 @@
-"""distutils.command.x
-
-Implements the Distutils 'x' command.
-"""
-
-# created 2000/mm/dd, John Doe
-
-__revision__ = "$Id$"
-
-from distutils.core import Command
-
-class DependencyFailure(Exception): pass
-
-class VersionTooOld(DependencyFailure): pass
-
-class VersionNotKnown(DependencyFailure): pass
-
-class checkdep (Command):
-
-    # Brief (40-50 characters) description of the command
-    description = "check package dependencies"
-
-    # List of option tuples: long name, short name (None if no short
-    # name), and help string.
-    # Later on, we might have auto-fetch and the like here. Feel free.
-    user_options = []
-
-    def initialize_options (self):
-        self.debug = None
-
-    # initialize_options()
-
-
-    def finalize_options (self):
-        pass
-    # finalize_options()
-
-
-    def run (self):
-        from distutils.version import LooseVersion
-        failed = []
-        for pkg, ver in self.distribution.metadata.requires:
-            if pkg == 'python':
-                if ver is not None:
-                    # Special case the 'python' package
-                    import sys
-                    thisver = LooseVersion('%d.%d.%d'%sys.version_info[:3])
-                    if thisver < ver:
-                        failed.append(((pkg,ver), VersionTooOld(thisver)))
-                continue
-            # Kinda hacky - we should do more here
-            try:
-                mod = __import__(pkg)
-            except Exception, e:
-                failed.append(((pkg,ver), e))
-                continue
-            if ver is not None:
-                if hasattr(mod, '__version__'):
-                    thisver = LooseVersion(mod.__version__)
-                    if thisver < ver:
-                        failed.append(((pkg,ver), VersionTooOld(thisver)))
-                else:
-                    failed.append(((pkg,ver), VersionNotKnown()))
-
-        if failed:
-            raise DependencyFailure, failed
-
-    # run()
-
-# class x
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/install.py b/Lib/distutils/command/install.py
index 175f785..2aaf010 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/install.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/install.py
@@ -126,8 +126,6 @@
          "force installation (overwrite any existing files)"),
         ('skip-build', None,
          "skip rebuilding everything (for testing/debugging)"),
-        ('skip-checkdep', None,
-         "skip checking dependencies (use at own risk)"),
 
         # Where to install documentation (eventually!)
         #('doc-format=', None, "format of documentation to generate"),
@@ -185,15 +183,12 @@
 
         # 'force' forces installation, even if target files are not
         # out-of-date.  'skip_build' skips running the "build" command,
-        # handy if you know it's not necessary.  'skip_checkdep' skips
-        # the 'checkdep' command, if you are sure you can work around the
-        # dependency failure in another way. 'warn_dir' (which is *not*
+        # handy if you know it's not necessary.  'warn_dir' (which is *not*
         # a user option, it's just there so the bdist_* commands can turn
         # it off) determines whether we warn about installing to a
         # directory not in sys.path.
         self.force = 0
         self.skip_build = 0
-        self.skip_checkdep = 0
         self.warn_dir = 1
 
         # These are only here as a conduit from the 'build' command to the
@@ -505,12 +500,6 @@
         if not self.skip_build:
             self.run_command('build')
 
-        # We check dependencies before we install
-        # For now, this is disabled. Before 2.4 is released, this will
-        # be turned on.
-        #if not self.skip_checkdep:
-        #    self.run_command('checkdep')
-
         # Run all sub-commands (at least those that need to be run)
         for cmd_name in self.get_sub_commands():
             self.run_command(cmd_name)
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/core.py b/Lib/distutils/core.py
index fef291f..6867534 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/core.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/core.py
@@ -47,8 +47,7 @@
                   'name', 'version', 'author', 'author_email',
                   'maintainer', 'maintainer_email', 'url', 'license',
                   'description', 'long_description', 'keywords',
-                  'platforms', 'classifiers', 'download_url',
-                  'provides', 'requires', )
+                  'platforms', 'classifiers', 'download_url',)
 
 # Legal keyword arguments for the Extension constructor
 extension_keywords = ('name', 'sources', 'include_dirs',
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/dist.py b/Lib/distutils/dist.py
index 53846e9..a23a773 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/dist.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/dist.py
@@ -223,51 +223,6 @@
                 else:
                     sys.stderr.write(msg + "\n")
 
-            # Build up the requires sequence
-            from distutils.version import LooseVersion
-            requires = attrs.get('requires')
-            if requires:
-                if isinstance(requires, type('')):
-                    raise DistutilsOptionError, 'requires should be a sequence'
-                newreq = []
-                for req in requires:
-                    if '-' not in req:
-                        # We have a plain package name - any version will do
-                        newreq.append((req,None))
-                    else:
-                        pkg, ver = string.split(req, '-', 1)
-                        newreq.append((pkg, LooseVersion(ver)))
-                attrs['requires'] = newreq
-
-            # Build up the provides object. If the setup() has no
-            # provides line, we use packages or modules and the version
-            # to synthesise the provides. If no version is provided (no
-            # pun intended) we don't have a provides entry at all.
-            provides = attrs.get('provides')
-            if provides:
-                if isinstance(provides, type('')):
-                    raise DistutilsOptionError, 'provides should be a sequence'
-                newprov = []
-                for prov in provides:
-                    if '-' not in prov:
-                        # We have a plain package name - any version will do
-                        newprov.append((prov,None))
-                    else:
-                        pkg, ver = string.split(prov, '-', 1)
-                        newprov.append((pkg, LooseVersion(ver)))
-                attrs['provides'] = newprov
-            elif attrs.get('version'):
-                # Build a provides line
-                prov = []
-                if attrs.get('packages'):
-                    for pkg in attrs['packages']:
-                        pkg = string.replace(pkg, '/', '.')
-                        prov.append('%s-%s'%(pkg, attrs['version']))
-                elif attrs.get('modules'):
-                    for mod in attrs['modules']:
-                        prov.append('%s-%s'%(mod, attrs['version']))
-                attrs['provides'] = prov
-
             # Now work on the rest of the attributes.  Any attribute that's
             # not already defined is invalid!
             for (key,val) in attrs.items():
@@ -275,7 +230,6 @@
                     setattr(self.metadata, key, val)
                 elif hasattr(self, key):
                     setattr(self, key, val)
-                else:
                     msg = "Unknown distribution option: %s" % repr(key)
                     if warnings is not None:
                         warnings.warn(msg)
@@ -1060,7 +1014,7 @@
                          "license", "description", "long_description",
                          "keywords", "platforms", "fullname", "contact",
                          "contact_email", "license", "classifiers",
-                         "download_url", "provides", "requires",)
+                         "download_url")
 
     def __init__ (self):
         self.name = None
@@ -1077,8 +1031,6 @@
         self.platforms = None
         self.classifiers = None
         self.download_url = None
-        self.requires = []
-        self.provides = []
 
     def write_pkg_info (self, base_dir):
         """Write the PKG-INFO file into the release tree.
@@ -1094,10 +1046,6 @@
         pkg_info.write('Author: %s\n' % self.get_contact() )
         pkg_info.write('Author-email: %s\n' % self.get_contact_email() )
         pkg_info.write('License: %s\n' % self.get_license() )
-        for req in self.get_requires():
-            pkg_info.write('Requires: %s\n' % req )
-        for prov in self.get_provides():
-            pkg_info.write('Provides: %s\n' % prov )
         if self.download_url:
             pkg_info.write('Download-URL: %s\n' % self.download_url)
 
@@ -1176,13 +1124,6 @@
     def get_download_url(self):
         return self.download_url or "UNKNOWN"
 
-    def get_requires(self):
-        return [ '%s%s%s'%(x, (y and '-') or '', y or '')
-                                                for x,y in self.requires ]
-
-    def get_provides(self):
-        return self.provides
-
 # class DistributionMetadata