diff --git a/mailsummary/GNUmakefile b/mailsummary/GNUmakefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a4ffb93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mailsummary/GNUmakefile
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+include GNUmakevars
+
+all: mailsummary
+
+clean:
+	rm -f mailsummary *.bak
+
+distclean: clean
+	rm -f customize
+
+install: $(BINDIR) $(BINDIR)/mailsummary
+
+%: %.pl customize
+	sh ./customize < $< > $@
+	chmod +x $@
+
+%: %.sh customize
+	sh ./customize < $< > $@
+	chmod +x $@
+
+customize: configure
+	sh ./configure
+
+$(BINDIR):
+	mkdir -p $@
+
+include GNUmakerules
diff --git a/mailsummary/configure b/mailsummary/configure
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..36e6f61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mailsummary/configure
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+echo "#!/bin/sh" > customize
+echo "sed \\" > customize
+chmod +x customize
+
+################################################################
+# find a working perl:
+#
+for i in /usr/bin/perl /usr/local/bin/perl /usr/bin/perl5 /usr/local/bin/perl5
+do
+    if $i -e 'exit ($] < 5.000)'
+    then
+	echo $i works
+	perl="$i"
+	break
+    fi
+done
+if [ -z "$perl" ]
+then
+    could not find a working perl command, sorry.
+    exit 1
+fi
+echo "  -e 's,@@@perl@@@,$perl,g' \\" >> customize
+
+
diff --git a/mailsummary/mailsummary.pl b/mailsummary/mailsummary.pl
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..de51476
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mailsummary/mailsummary.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+#!@@@perl@@@
+
+%mon2num = (
+    Jan =>  1,
+    Feb =>  2,
+    Mar =>  3,
+    Apr =>  4,
+    May =>  5,
+    Jun =>  6,
+    Jul =>  7,
+    Aug =>  8,
+    Sep =>  9,
+    Oct => 10,
+    Nov => 11,
+    Dec => 12
+);
+$header = 0;
+
+foreach $f (@ARGV) {
+  if (!open(F, $f)) {next};
+  $header = 1;
+  $from = ""; 
+  $date = ""; 
+  $subject = ""; 
+  $to = ""; 
+
+  while (<F>) {
+    if (/^From ([^ ]*) /) {
+        $from = $1;
+	$header = 1;
+	if (/
+	     (?:(?:Mon|Tue|Wed|Thu|Fri|Sat|Sun)\s)?
+	     (Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep|Oct|Nov|Dec)\s
+	     ([0-9]?[0-9])\s
+	     ([0-9]?[0-9]:[0-9][0-9]:[0-9][0-9])\s
+	     (19[0-9][0-9])
+	     /x) {
+	    $date = sprintf("%04d-%02d-%02d %8s", $4, $mon2num{$1}, $2, $3);
+	} else {
+	    $date = "XXXX-XX-XX XX:XX:XX";
+	}
+    } elsif ($header && /^Date:/) {
+	# Thu, 22 May 1997 16:49:23 +0200
+	if (/^Date:\s+
+	     (?:(?:Mon|Tue|Wed|Thu|Fri|Sat|Sun),\s+)?
+	     ([0-9]?[0-9])\s
+	     (Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep|Oct|Nov|Dec)\s
+	     (19[0-9][0-9])\s+
+	     ([0-9]?[0-9]:[0-9][0-9]:[0-9][0-9])/x) {
+	    $date = sprintf("%04d-%02d-%02d %8s", $3, $mon2num{$2}, $1, $4);
+	} elsif (/^Date:\s+
+	     (?:(?:Mon|Tue|Wed|Thu|Fri|Sat|Sun),\s+)?
+	     ([0-9]?[0-9])\s
+	     (Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep|Oct|Nov|Dec)\s
+	     ([7-9][0-9])\s+
+	     ([0-9]?[0-9]:[0-9][0-9]:[0-9][0-9])/x) {
+	    $date = sprintf("%04d-%02d-%02d %8s", 1900 + $3, $mon2num{$2}, $1, $4);
+	} else {
+	   print "bad date: $_\n";
+	}
+    } elsif ($header && /^To:/) {
+	if (/^To:\s+(.*)/) {
+	    $to = $1;
+	} else {
+	   print "bad to: $_\n";
+	}
+    } elsif ($header && /^Subject:/) {
+	if (/^Subject:\s+(.*)/) {
+	    $subject = $1;
+	} else {
+	   print "bad subject: $_\n";
+	}
+    } elsif ($header && /^From:/) {
+	if (/^From:\s+(.*)/) {
+	    $from = $1;
+	} else {
+	   print "bad from: $_\n";
+	}
+    } elsif ($header && /^$/) {
+	print "$date\t$f\t$from\t$to\t$subject\n";
+	$header=0;
+    }
+  }
+  close(F);
+}