diff --git a/Documentation/git-svn.txt b/Documentation/git-svn.txt
index c589a9863064ef3e5f12876d40174fb991cf3b59..f5f57e8f87d4271a634f13f33d6b33af43909473 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-svn.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-svn.txt
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ manually joining branches on commit.
 	against the latest changes in the SVN repository.
 	An optional command-line argument may be specified as an
 	alternative to HEAD.
-	This is advantageous over 'commit' (below) because it produces
+	This is advantageous over 'set-tree' (below) because it produces
 	cleaner, more linear history.
 
 'log'::
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ manually joining branches on commit.
 
 	Any other arguments are passed directly to `git log'
 
-'commit'::
+'set-tree'::
 	You should consider using 'dcommit' instead of this command.
 	Commit specified commit or tree objects to SVN.  This relies on
 	your imported fetch data being up-to-date.  This makes
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ This can allow you to make partial mirrors when running fetch.
 -::
 --stdin::
 
-Only used with the 'commit' command.
+Only used with the 'set-tree' command.
 
 Read a list of commits from stdin and commit them in reverse
 order.  Only the leading sha1 is read from each line, so
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ git-rev-list --pretty=oneline output can be used.
 
 --rmdir::
 
-Only used with the 'dcommit', 'commit' and 'commit-diff' commands.
+Only used with the 'dcommit', 'set-tree' and 'commit-diff' commands.
 
 Remove directories from the SVN tree if there are no files left
 behind.  SVN can version empty directories, and they are not
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ repo-config key: svn.rmdir
 -e::
 --edit::
 
-Only used with the 'dcommit', 'commit' and 'commit-diff' commands.
+Only used with the 'dcommit', 'set-tree' and 'commit-diff' commands.
 
 Edit the commit message before committing to SVN.  This is off by
 default for objects that are commits, and forced on when committing
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ repo-config key: svn.edit
 -l<num>::
 --find-copies-harder::
 
-Only used with the 'dcommit', 'commit' and 'commit-diff' commands.
+Only used with the 'dcommit', 'set-tree' and 'commit-diff' commands.
 
 They are both passed directly to git-diff-tree see
 gitlink:git-diff-tree[1] for more information.
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ ADVANCED OPTIONS
 
 -b<refname>::
 --branch <refname>::
-Used with 'fetch', 'dcommit' or 'commit'.
+Used with 'fetch', 'dcommit' or 'set-tree'.
 
 This can be used to join arbitrary git branches to remotes/git-svn
 on new commits where the tree object is equivalent.
@@ -392,11 +392,11 @@ REBASE VS. PULL
 ---------------
 
 Originally, git-svn recommended that the remotes/git-svn branch be
-pulled from.  This is because the author favored 'git-svn commit B'
-to commit a single head rather than the 'git-svn commit A..B' notation
+pulled from.  This is because the author favored 'git-svn set-tree B'
+to commit a single head rather than the 'git-svn set-tree A..B' notation
 to commit multiple commits.
 
-If you use 'git-svn commit A..B' to commit several diffs and you do not
+If you use 'git-svn set-tree A..B' to commit several diffs and you do not
 have the latest remotes/git-svn merged into my-branch, you should use
 'git rebase' to update your work branch instead of 'git pull'.  'pull'
 can cause non-linear history to be flattened when committing into SVN,
diff --git a/git-svn.perl b/git-svn.perl
index 73ab8d873fb33f4447c78b5eab4781e245697c10..07748bc3e3f4091613c8e78647a471ac21ee46d2 100755
--- a/git-svn.perl
+++ b/git-svn.perl
@@ -32,40 +32,30 @@
 );
 
 sub fatal (@) { print STDERR @_; exit 1 }
-# If SVN:: library support is added, please make the dependencies
-# optional and preserve the capability to use the command-line client.
-# use eval { require SVN::... } to make it lazy load
-# We don't use any modules not in the standard Perl distribution:
+require SVN::Core; # use()-ing this causes segfaults for me... *shrug*
+require SVN::Ra;
+require SVN::Delta;
+if ($SVN::Core::VERSION lt '1.1.0') {
+	fatal "Need SVN::Core 1.1.0 or better (got $SVN::Core::VERSION)\n";
+}
+push @SVN::Git::Editor::ISA, 'SVN::Delta::Editor';
+push @SVN::Git::Fetcher::ISA, 'SVN::Delta::Editor';
+*SVN::Git::Fetcher::process_rm = *process_rm;
 use Carp qw/croak/;
 use IO::File qw//;
 use File::Basename qw/dirname basename/;
 use File::Path qw/mkpath/;
 use Getopt::Long qw/:config gnu_getopt no_ignore_case auto_abbrev pass_through/;
-use File::Spec qw//;
-use File::Copy qw/copy/;
 use POSIX qw/strftime/;
 use IPC::Open3;
 use Memoize;
+use Git qw/command command_oneline command_noisy
+           command_output_pipe command_input_pipe command_close_pipe/;
 memoize('revisions_eq');
 memoize('cmt_metadata');
 memoize('get_commit_time');
 
-my ($SVN, $_use_lib);
-
-sub nag_lib {
-	print STDERR <<EOF;
-! Please consider installing the SVN Perl libraries (version 1.1.0 or
-! newer).  You will generally get better performance and fewer bugs,
-! especially if you:
-! 1) have a case-insensitive filesystem
-! 2) replace symlinks with files (and vice-versa) in commits
-
-EOF
-}
-
-$_use_lib = 1 unless $ENV{GIT_SVN_NO_LIB};
-libsvn_load();
-nag_lib() unless $_use_lib;
+my ($SVN);
 
 my $_optimize_commits = 1 unless $ENV{GIT_SVN_NO_OPTIMIZE_COMMITS};
 my $sha1 = qr/[a-f\d]{40}/;
@@ -82,7 +72,7 @@ sub nag_lib {
 	$_username, $_config_dir, $_no_auth_cache, $_xfer_delta,
 	$_pager, $_color);
 my (@_branch_from, %tree_map, %users, %rusers, %equiv);
-my ($_svn_co_url_revs, $_svn_pg_peg_revs, $_svn_can_do_switch);
+my ($_svn_can_do_switch);
 my @repo_path_split_cache;
 
 my %fc_opts = ( 'no-ignore-externals' => \$_no_ignore_ext,
@@ -117,7 +107,12 @@ sub nag_lib {
 	init => [ \&init, "Initialize a repo for tracking" .
 			  " (requires URL argument)",
 			  \%init_opts ],
-	commit => [ \&commit, "Commit git revisions to SVN",
+	dcommit => [ \&dcommit, 'Commit several diffs to merge with upstream',
+			{ 'merge|m|M' => \$_merge,
+			  'strategy|s=s' => \$_strategy,
+			  'dry-run|n' => \$_dry_run,
+			%cmt_opts } ],
+	'set-tree' => [ \&commit, "Set an SVN repository to a git tree-ish",
 			{	'stdin|' => \$_stdin, %cmt_opts, %fc_opts, } ],
 	'show-ignore' => [ \&show_ignore, "Show svn:ignore listings",
 			{ 'revision|r=i' => \$_revision } ],
@@ -160,11 +155,6 @@ sub nag_lib {
 			  'file|F=s' => \$_file,
 			  'revision|r=s' => \$_revision,
 			%cmt_opts } ],
-	dcommit => [ \&dcommit, 'Commit several diffs to merge with upstream',
-			{ 'merge|m|M' => \$_merge,
-			  'strategy|s=s' => \$_strategy,
-			  'dry-run|n' => \$_dry_run,
-			%cmt_opts } ],
 );
 
 my $cmd;
@@ -191,7 +181,6 @@ sub nag_lib {
 init_vars();
 load_authors() if $_authors;
 load_all_refs() if $_branch_all_refs;
-svn_compat_check() unless $_use_lib;
 migration_check() unless $cmd =~ /^(?:init|rebuild|multi-init|commit-diff)$/;
 $cmd{$cmd}->[0]->(@ARGV);
 exit 0;
@@ -232,28 +221,27 @@ sub version {
 }
 
 sub rebuild {
-	if (quiet_run(qw/git-rev-parse --verify/,"refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN^0")) {
+	if (!verify_ref("refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN^0")) {
 		copy_remote_ref();
 	}
 	$SVN_URL = shift or undef;
 	my $newest_rev = 0;
 	if ($_upgrade) {
-		sys('git-update-ref',"refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN","$GIT_SVN-HEAD");
+		command_noisy('update-ref',"refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN","
+		              $GIT_SVN-HEAD");
 	} else {
 		check_upgrade_needed();
 	}
 
-	my $pid = open(my $rev_list,'-|');
-	defined $pid or croak $!;
-	if ($pid == 0) {
-		exec("git-rev-list","refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN") or croak $!;
-	}
+	my ($rev_list, $ctx) = command_output_pipe("rev-list",
+	                                           "refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN");
 	my $latest;
 	while (<$rev_list>) {
 		chomp;
 		my $c = $_;
 		croak "Non-SHA1: $c\n" unless $c =~ /^$sha1$/o;
-		my @commit = grep(/^git-svn-id: /,`git-cat-file commit $c`);
+		my @commit = grep(/^git-svn-id: /,
+		                  command(qw/cat-file commit/, $c));
 		next if (!@commit); # skip merges
 		my ($url, $rev, $uuid) = extract_metadata($commit[$#commit]);
 		if (!defined $rev || !$uuid) {
@@ -279,33 +267,7 @@ sub rebuild {
 		print "r$rev = $c\n";
 		$newest_rev = $rev if ($rev > $newest_rev);
 	}
-	close $rev_list or croak $?;
-
-	goto out if $_use_lib;
-	if (!chdir $SVN_WC) {
-		svn_cmd_checkout($SVN_URL, $latest, $SVN_WC);
-		chdir $SVN_WC or croak $!;
-	}
-
-	$pid = fork;
-	defined $pid or croak $!;
-	if ($pid == 0) {
-		my @svn_up = qw(svn up);
-		push @svn_up, '--ignore-externals' unless $_no_ignore_ext;
-		sys(@svn_up,"-r$newest_rev");
-		$ENV{GIT_INDEX_FILE} = $GIT_SVN_INDEX;
-		index_changes();
-		exec('git-write-tree') or croak $!;
-	}
-	waitpid $pid, 0;
-	croak $? if $?;
-out:
-	if ($_upgrade) {
-		print STDERR <<"";
-Keeping deprecated refs/head/$GIT_SVN-HEAD for now.  Please remove it
-when you have upgraded your tools and habits to use refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN
-
-	}
+	command_close_pipe($rev_list, $ctx);
 }
 
 sub init {
@@ -323,10 +285,10 @@ sub init {
 
 	$SVN_URL = $url;
 	unless (-d $GIT_DIR) {
-		my @init_db = ('git-init-db');
+		my @init_db = ('init-db');
 		push @init_db, "--template=$_template" if defined $_template;
 		push @init_db, "--shared" if defined $_shared;
-		sys(@init_db);
+		command_noisy(@init_db);
 	}
 	setup_git_svn();
 }
@@ -334,70 +296,13 @@ sub init {
 sub fetch {
 	check_upgrade_needed();
 	$SVN_URL ||= file_to_s("$GIT_SVN_DIR/info/url");
-	my $ret = $_use_lib ? fetch_lib(@_) : fetch_cmd(@_);
-	if ($ret->{commit} && quiet_run(qw(git-rev-parse --verify
-						refs/heads/master^0))) {
-		sys(qw(git-update-ref refs/heads/master),$ret->{commit});
+	my $ret = fetch_lib(@_);
+	if ($ret->{commit} && !verify_ref('refs/heads/master^0')) {
+		command_noisy(qw(update-ref refs/heads/master),$ret->{commit});
 	}
 	return $ret;
 }
 
-sub fetch_cmd {
-	my (@parents) = @_;
-	my @log_args = -d $SVN_WC ? ($SVN_WC) : ($SVN_URL);
-	unless ($_revision) {
-		$_revision = -d $SVN_WC ? 'BASE:HEAD' : '0:HEAD';
-	}
-	push @log_args, "-r$_revision";
-	push @log_args, '--stop-on-copy' unless $_no_stop_copy;
-
-	my $svn_log = svn_log_raw(@log_args);
-
-	my $base = next_log_entry($svn_log) or croak "No base revision!\n";
-	# don't need last_revision from grab_base_rev() because
-	# user could've specified a different revision to skip (they
-	# didn't want to import certain revisions into git for whatever
-	# reason, so trust $base->{revision} instead.
-	my (undef, $last_commit) = svn_grab_base_rev();
-	unless (-d $SVN_WC) {
-		svn_cmd_checkout($SVN_URL,$base->{revision},$SVN_WC);
-		chdir $SVN_WC or croak $!;
-		read_uuid();
-		$last_commit = git_commit($base, @parents);
-		assert_tree($last_commit);
-	} else {
-		chdir $SVN_WC or croak $!;
-		read_uuid();
-		# looks like a user manually cp'd and svn switch'ed
-		unless ($last_commit) {
-			sys(qw/svn revert -R ./);
-			assert_svn_wc_clean($base->{revision});
-			$last_commit = git_commit($base, @parents);
-			assert_tree($last_commit);
-		}
-	}
-	my @svn_up = qw(svn up);
-	push @svn_up, '--ignore-externals' unless $_no_ignore_ext;
-	my $last = $base;
-	while (my $log_msg = next_log_entry($svn_log)) {
-		if ($last->{revision} >= $log_msg->{revision}) {
-			croak "Out of order: last >= current: ",
-				"$last->{revision} >= $log_msg->{revision}\n";
-		}
-		# Revert is needed for cases like:
-		# https://svn.musicpd.org/Jamming/trunk (r166:167), but
-		# I can't seem to reproduce something like that on a test...
-		sys(qw/svn revert -R ./);
-		assert_svn_wc_clean($last->{revision});
-		sys(@svn_up,"-r$log_msg->{revision}");
-		$last_commit = git_commit($log_msg, $last_commit, @parents);
-		$last = $log_msg;
-	}
-	close $svn_log->{fh};
-	$last->{commit} = $last_commit;
-	return $last;
-}
-
 sub fetch_lib {
 	my (@parents) = @_;
 	$SVN_URL ||= file_to_s("$GIT_SVN_DIR/info/url");
@@ -416,16 +321,16 @@ sub fetch_lib {
 	read_uuid();
 	if (defined $last_commit) {
 		unless (-e $GIT_SVN_INDEX) {
-			sys(qw/git-read-tree/, $last_commit);
+			command_noisy('read-tree', $last_commit);
 		}
-		chomp (my $x = `git-write-tree`);
-		my ($y) = (`git-cat-file commit $last_commit`
+		my $x = command_oneline('write-tree');
+		my ($y) = (command(qw/cat-file commit/, $last_commit)
 							=~ /^tree ($sha1)/m);
 		if ($y ne $x) {
 			unlink $GIT_SVN_INDEX or croak $!;
-			sys(qw/git-read-tree/, $last_commit);
+			command_noisy('read-tree', $last_commit);
 		}
-		chomp ($x = `git-write-tree`);
+		$x = command_oneline('write-tree');
 		if ($y ne $x) {
 			print STDERR "trees ($last_commit) $y != $x\n",
 				 "Something is seriously wrong...\n";
@@ -489,45 +394,19 @@ sub commit {
 	}
 	my @revs;
 	foreach my $c (@commits) {
-		chomp(my @tmp = safe_qx('git-rev-parse',$c));
+		my @tmp = command('rev-parse',$c);
 		if (scalar @tmp == 1) {
 			push @revs, $tmp[0];
 		} elsif (scalar @tmp > 1) {
-			push @revs, reverse (safe_qx('git-rev-list',@tmp));
+			push @revs, reverse(command('rev-list',@tmp));
 		} else {
 			die "Failed to rev-parse $c\n";
 		}
 	}
-	chomp @revs;
-	$_use_lib ? commit_lib(@revs) : commit_cmd(@revs);
+	commit_lib(@revs);
 	print "Done committing ",scalar @revs," revisions to SVN\n";
 }
 
-sub commit_cmd {
-	my (@revs) = @_;
-
-	chdir $SVN_WC or croak "Unable to chdir $SVN_WC: $!\n";
-	my $info = svn_info('.');
-	my $fetched = fetch();
-	if ($info->{Revision} != $fetched->{revision}) {
-		print STDERR "There are new revisions that were fetched ",
-				"and need to be merged (or acknowledged) ",
-				"before committing.\n";
-		exit 1;
-	}
-	$info = svn_info('.');
-	read_uuid($info);
-	my $last = $fetched;
-	foreach my $c (@revs) {
-		my $mods = svn_checkout_tree($last, $c);
-		if (scalar @$mods == 0) {
-			print "Skipping, no changes detected\n";
-			next;
-		}
-		$last = svn_commit_tree($last, $c);
-	}
-}
-
 sub commit_lib {
 	my (@revs) = @_;
 	my ($r_last, $cmt_last) = svn_grab_base_rev();
@@ -606,10 +485,10 @@ sub commit_lib {
 sub dcommit {
 	my $head = shift || 'HEAD';
 	my $gs = "refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN";
-	chomp(my @refs = safe_qx(qw/git-rev-list --no-merges/, "$gs..$head"));
+	my @refs = command(qw/rev-list --no-merges/, "$gs..$head");
 	my $last_rev;
 	foreach my $d (reverse @refs) {
-		if (quiet_run('git-rev-parse','--verify',"$d~1") != 0) {
+		if (!verify_ref("$d~1")) {
 			die "Commit $d\n",
 			    "has no parent commit, and therefore ",
 			    "nothing to diff against.\n",
@@ -633,7 +512,7 @@ sub dcommit {
 	}
 	return if $_dry_run;
 	fetch();
-	my @diff = safe_qx('git-diff-tree', $head, $gs);
+	my @diff = command('diff-tree', $head, $gs, '--');
 	my @finish;
 	if (@diff) {
 		@finish = qw/rebase/;
@@ -645,37 +524,11 @@ sub dcommit {
 		      "Resetting to the latest $gs\n";
 		@finish = qw/reset --mixed/;
 	}
-	sys('git', @finish, $gs);
+	command_noisy(@finish, $gs);
 }
 
 sub show_ignore {
 	$SVN_URL ||= file_to_s("$GIT_SVN_DIR/info/url");
-	$_use_lib ? show_ignore_lib() : show_ignore_cmd();
-}
-
-sub show_ignore_cmd {
-	require File::Find or die $!;
-	if (defined $_revision) {
-		die "-r/--revision option doesn't work unless the Perl SVN ",
-			"libraries are used\n";
-	}
-	chdir $SVN_WC or croak $!;
-	my %ign;
-	File::Find::find({wanted=>sub{if(lstat $_ && -d _ && -d "$_/.svn"){
-		s#^\./##;
-		@{$ign{$_}} = svn_propget_base('svn:ignore', $_);
-		}}, no_chdir=>1},'.');
-
-	print "\n# /\n";
-	foreach (@{$ign{'.'}}) { print '/',$_ if /\S/ }
-	delete $ign{'.'};
-	foreach my $i (sort keys %ign) {
-		print "\n# ",$i,"\n";
-		foreach (@{$ign{$i}}) { print '/',$i,'/',$_ if /\S/ }
-	}
-}
-
-sub show_ignore_lib {
 	my $repo;
 	$SVN ||= libsvn_connect($SVN_URL);
 	my $r = defined $_revision ? $_revision : $SVN->get_latest_revnum;
@@ -689,7 +542,7 @@ sub graft_branches {
 
 	if (%$grafts) {
 		# temporarily disable our grafts file to make this idempotent
-		chomp($gr_sha1 = safe_qx(qw/git-hash-object -w/,$gr_file));
+		chomp($gr_sha1 = command(qw/hash-object -w/,$gr_file));
 		rename $gr_file, "$gr_file~$gr_sha1" or croak $!;
 	}
 
@@ -707,11 +560,7 @@ sub graft_branches {
 			}
 		}
 		unless ($_no_graft_copy) {
-			if ($_use_lib) {
-				graft_file_copy_lib($grafts,$l_map,$u);
-			} else {
-				graft_file_copy_cmd($grafts,$l_map,$u);
-			}
+			graft_file_copy_lib($grafts,$l_map,$u);
 		}
 	}
 	graft_tree_joins($grafts);
@@ -743,7 +592,7 @@ sub multi_init {
 	unless (-d $GIT_SVN_DIR) {
 		print "GIT_SVN_ID set to 'trunk' for $_trunk\n" if $ch_id;
 		init($_trunk);
-		sys('git-repo-config', 'svn.trunk', $_trunk);
+		command_noisy('repo-config', 'svn.trunk', $_trunk);
 	}
 	complete_url_ls_init($url, $_branches, '--branches/-b', '');
 	complete_url_ls_init($url, $_tags, '--tags/-t', 'tags/');
@@ -781,11 +630,8 @@ sub show_log {
 	}
 
 	config_pager();
-	my $pid = open(my $log,'-|');
-	defined $pid or croak $!;
-	if (!$pid) {
-		exec(git_svn_log_cmd($r_min,$r_max), @args) or croak $!;
-	}
+	@args = (git_svn_log_cmd($r_min, $r_max), @args);
+	my $log = command_output_pipe(@args);
 	run_pager();
 	my (@k, $c, $d);
 
@@ -832,7 +678,7 @@ sub show_log {
 		process_commit($_, $r_min, $r_max) foreach reverse @k;
 	}
 out:
-	close $log;
+	eval { command_close_pipe($log) };
 	print '-' x72,"\n" unless $_incremental || $_oneline;
 }
 
@@ -842,10 +688,6 @@ sub commit_diff_usage {
 }
 
 sub commit_diff {
-	if (!$_use_lib) {
-		print STDERR "commit-diff must be used with SVN libraries\n";
-		exit 1;
-	}
 	my $ta = shift or commit_diff_usage();
 	my $tb = shift or commit_diff_usage();
 	if (!eval { $SVN_URL = shift || file_to_s("$GIT_SVN_DIR/info/url") }) {
@@ -912,7 +754,7 @@ sub cmt_showable {
 	return 1 if defined $c->{r};
 	if ($c->{l} && $c->{l}->[-1] eq "...\n" &&
 				$c->{a_raw} =~ /\@([a-f\d\-]+)>$/) {
-		my @msg = safe_qx(qw/git-cat-file commit/, $c->{c});
+		my @msg = command(qw/cat-file commit/, $c->{c});
 		shift @msg while ($msg[0] ne "\n");
 		shift @msg;
 		@{$c->{l}} = grep !/^git-svn-id: /, @msg;
@@ -961,7 +803,7 @@ sub log_use_color {
 
 sub git_svn_log_cmd {
 	my ($r_min, $r_max) = @_;
-	my @cmd = (qw/git-log --abbrev-commit --pretty=raw
+	my @cmd = (qw/log --abbrev-commit --pretty=raw
 			--default/, "refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN");
 	push @cmd, '-r' unless $_non_recursive;
 	push @cmd, qw/--raw --name-status/ if $_verbose;
@@ -1046,8 +888,7 @@ sub complete_url_ls_init {
 		}
 		$var = $url . $var;
 	}
-	chomp(my @ls = $_use_lib ? libsvn_ls_fullurl($var)
-				: safe_qx(qw/svn ls --non-interactive/, $var));
+	my @ls = libsvn_ls_fullurl($var);
 	my $old = $GIT_SVN;
 	defined(my $pid = fork) or croak $!;
 	if (!$pid) {
@@ -1071,7 +912,7 @@ sub complete_url_ls_init {
 	waitpid $pid, 0;
 	croak $? if $?;
 	my ($n) = ($switch =~ /^--(\w+)/);
-	sys('git-repo-config', "svn.$n", $var);
+	command_noisy('repo-config', "svn.$n", $var);
 }
 
 sub common_prefix {
@@ -1103,11 +944,8 @@ sub graft_tree_joins {
 
 	git_svn_each(sub {
 		my $i = shift;
-		defined(my $pid = open my $fh, '-|') or croak $!;
-		if (!$pid) {
-			exec qw/git-rev-list --pretty=raw/,
-					"refs/remotes/$i" or croak $!;
-		}
+		my @args = (qw/rev-list --pretty=raw/, "refs/remotes/$i");
+		my ($fh, $ctx) = command_output_pipe(@args);
 		while (<$fh>) {
 			next unless /^commit ($sha1)$/o;
 			my $c = $1;
@@ -1130,9 +968,7 @@ sub graft_tree_joins {
 
 			foreach my $p (@{$tree_map{$t}}) {
 				next if $p eq $c;
-				my $mb = eval {
-					safe_qx('git-merge-base', $c, $p)
-				};
+				my $mb = eval { command('merge-base', $c, $p) };
 				next unless ($@ || $?);
 				if (defined $r_a) {
 					# see if SVN says it's a relative
@@ -1161,41 +997,10 @@ sub graft_tree_joins {
 				# what should we do when $ct == $s ?
 			}
 		}
-		close $fh or croak $?;
+		command_close_pipe($fh, $ctx);
 	});
 }
 
-# this isn't funky-filename safe, but good enough for now...
-sub graft_file_copy_cmd {
-	my ($grafts, $l_map, $u) = @_;
-	my $paths = $l_map->{$u};
-	my $pfx = common_prefix([keys %$paths]);
-	$SVN_URL ||= $u.$pfx;
-	my $pid = open my $fh, '-|';
-	defined $pid or croak $!;
-	unless ($pid) {
-		my @exec = qw/svn log -v/;
-		push @exec, "-r$_revision" if defined $_revision;
-		exec @exec, $u.$pfx or croak $!;
-	}
-	my ($r, $mp) = (undef, undef);
-	while (<$fh>) {
-		chomp;
-		if (/^\-{72}$/) {
-			$mp = $r = undef;
-		} elsif (/^r(\d+) \| /) {
-			$r = $1 unless defined $r;
-		} elsif (/^Changed paths:/) {
-			$mp = 1;
-		} elsif ($mp && m#^   [AR] /(\S.*?) \(from /(\S+?):(\d+)\)$#) {
-			my ($p1, $p0, $r0) = ($1, $2, $3);
-			my $c = find_graft_path_commit($paths, $p1, $r);
-			next unless $c;
-			find_graft_path_parents($grafts, $paths, $c, $p0, $r0);
-		}
-	}
-}
-
 sub graft_file_copy_lib {
 	my ($grafts, $l_map, $u) = @_;
 	my $tree_paths = $l_map->{$u};
@@ -1286,28 +1091,14 @@ sub graft_merge_msg {
 
 sub read_uuid {
 	return if $SVN_UUID;
-	if ($_use_lib) {
-		my $pool = SVN::Pool->new;
-		$SVN_UUID = $SVN->get_uuid($pool);
-		$pool->clear;
-	} else {
-		my $info = shift || svn_info('.');
-		$SVN_UUID = $info->{'Repository UUID'} or
-					croak "Repository UUID unreadable\n";
-	}
+	my $pool = SVN::Pool->new;
+	$SVN_UUID = $SVN->get_uuid($pool);
+	$pool->clear;
 }
 
-sub quiet_run {
-	my $pid = fork;
-	defined $pid or croak $!;
-	if (!$pid) {
-		open my $null, '>', '/dev/null' or croak $!;
-		open STDERR, '>&', $null or croak $!;
-		open STDOUT, '>&', $null or croak $!;
-		exec @_ or croak $!;
-	}
-	waitpid $pid, 0;
-	return $?;
+sub verify_ref {
+	my ($ref) = @_;
+	eval { command_oneline([ 'rev-parse', $ref ], { STDERR => 0 }) };
 }
 
 sub repo_path_split {
@@ -1321,21 +1112,8 @@ sub repo_path_split {
 			return ($u, $full_url);
 		}
 	}
-	if ($_use_lib) {
-		my $tmp = libsvn_connect($full_url);
-		return ($tmp->{repos_root}, $tmp->{svn_path});
-	} else {
-		my ($url, $path) = ($full_url =~ m!^([a-z\+]+://[^/]*)(.*)$!i);
-		$path =~ s#^/+##;
-		my @paths = split(m#/+#, $path);
-		while (quiet_run(qw/svn ls --non-interactive/, $url)) {
-			my $n = shift @paths || last;
-			$url .= "/$n";
-		}
-		push @repo_path_split_cache, qr/^(\Q$url\E)/;
-		$path = join('/',@paths);
-		return ($url, $path);
-	}
+	my $tmp = libsvn_connect($full_url);
+	return ($tmp->{repos_root}, $tmp->{svn_path});
 }
 
 sub setup_git_svn {
@@ -1351,41 +1129,17 @@ sub setup_git_svn {
 
 }
 
-sub assert_svn_wc_clean {
-	return if $_use_lib;
-	my ($svn_rev) = @_;
-	croak "$svn_rev is not an integer!\n" unless ($svn_rev =~ /^\d+$/);
-	my $lcr = svn_info('.')->{'Last Changed Rev'};
-	if ($svn_rev != $lcr) {
-		print STDERR "Checking for copy-tree ... ";
-		my @diff = grep(/^Index: /,(safe_qx(qw(svn diff),
-						"-r$lcr:$svn_rev")));
-		if (@diff) {
-			croak "Nope!  Expected r$svn_rev, got r$lcr\n";
-		} else {
-			print STDERR "OK!\n";
-		}
-	}
-	my @status = grep(!/^Performing status on external/,(`svn status`));
-	@status = grep(!/^\s*$/,@status);
-	@status = grep(!/^X/,@status) if $_no_ignore_ext;
-	if (scalar @status) {
-		print STDERR "Tree ($SVN_WC) is not clean:\n";
-		print STDERR $_ foreach @status;
-		croak;
-	}
-}
-
 sub get_tree_from_treeish {
 	my ($treeish) = @_;
 	croak "Not a sha1: $treeish\n" unless $treeish =~ /^$sha1$/o;
-	chomp(my $type = `git-cat-file -t $treeish`);
+	my $type = command_oneline(qw/cat-file -t/, $treeish);
 	my $expected;
 	while ($type eq 'tag') {
-		chomp(($treeish, $type) = `git-cat-file tag $treeish`);
+		($treeish, $type) = command(qw/cat-file tag/, $treeish);
 	}
 	if ($type eq 'commit') {
-		$expected = (grep /^tree /,`git-cat-file commit $treeish`)[0];
+		$expected = (grep /^tree /, command(qw/cat-file commit/,
+		                                    $treeish))[0];
 		($expected) = ($expected =~ /^tree ($sha1)$/);
 		die "Unable to get tree from $treeish\n" unless $expected;
 	} elsif ($type eq 'tree') {
@@ -1396,27 +1150,19 @@ sub get_tree_from_treeish {
 	return $expected;
 }
 
-sub assert_tree {
-	return if $_use_lib;
-	my ($treeish) = @_;
-	my $expected = get_tree_from_treeish($treeish);
-
-	my $tmpindex = $GIT_SVN_INDEX.'.assert-tmp';
-	if (-e $tmpindex) {
-		unlink $tmpindex or croak $!;
-	}
-	my $old_index = set_index($tmpindex);
-	index_changes(1);
-	chomp(my $tree = `git-write-tree`);
-	restore_index($old_index);
-	if ($tree ne $expected) {
-		croak "Tree mismatch, Got: $tree, Expected: $expected\n";
+sub get_diff {
+	my ($from, $treeish) = @_;
+	print "diff-tree $from $treeish\n";
+	my @diff_tree = qw(diff-tree -z -r);
+	if ($_cp_similarity) {
+		push @diff_tree, "-C$_cp_similarity";
+	} else {
+		push @diff_tree, '-C';
 	}
-	unlink $tmpindex;
-}
-
-sub parse_diff_tree {
-	my $diff_fh = shift;
+	push @diff_tree, '--find-copies-harder' if $_find_copies_harder;
+	push @diff_tree, "-l$_l" if defined $_l;
+	push @diff_tree, $from, $treeish;
+	my ($diff_fh, $ctx) = command_output_pipe(@diff_tree);
 	local $/ = "\0";
 	my $state = 'meta';
 	my @mods;
@@ -1452,170 +1198,10 @@ sub parse_diff_tree {
 			croak "Error parsing $_\n";
 		}
 	}
-	close $diff_fh or croak $?;
-
+	command_close_pipe($diff_fh, $ctx);
 	return \@mods;
 }
 
-sub svn_check_prop_executable {
-	my $m = shift;
-	return if -l $m->{file_b};
-	if ($m->{mode_b} =~ /755$/) {
-		chmod((0755 &~ umask),$m->{file_b}) or croak $!;
-		if ($m->{mode_a} !~ /755$/) {
-			sys(qw(svn propset svn:executable 1), $m->{file_b});
-		}
-		-x $m->{file_b} or croak "$m->{file_b} is not executable!\n";
-	} elsif ($m->{mode_b} !~ /755$/ && $m->{mode_a} =~ /755$/) {
-		sys(qw(svn propdel svn:executable), $m->{file_b});
-		chmod((0644 &~ umask),$m->{file_b}) or croak $!;
-		-x $m->{file_b} and croak "$m->{file_b} is executable!\n";
-	}
-}
-
-sub svn_ensure_parent_path {
-	my $dir_b = dirname(shift);
-	svn_ensure_parent_path($dir_b) if ($dir_b ne File::Spec->curdir);
-	mkpath([$dir_b]) unless (-d $dir_b);
-	sys(qw(svn add -N), $dir_b) unless (-d "$dir_b/.svn");
-}
-
-sub precommit_check {
-	my $mods = shift;
-	my (%rm_file, %rmdir_check, %added_check);
-
-	my %o = ( D => 0, R => 1, C => 2, A => 3, M => 3, T => 3 );
-	foreach my $m (sort { $o{$a->{chg}} <=> $o{$b->{chg}} } @$mods) {
-		if ($m->{chg} eq 'R') {
-			if (-d $m->{file_b}) {
-				err_dir_to_file("$m->{file_a} => $m->{file_b}");
-			}
-			# dir/$file => dir/file/$file
-			my $dirname = dirname($m->{file_b});
-			while ($dirname ne File::Spec->curdir) {
-				if ($dirname ne $m->{file_a}) {
-					$dirname = dirname($dirname);
-					next;
-				}
-				err_file_to_dir("$m->{file_a} => $m->{file_b}");
-			}
-			# baz/zzz => baz (baz is a file)
-			$dirname = dirname($m->{file_a});
-			while ($dirname ne File::Spec->curdir) {
-				if ($dirname ne $m->{file_b}) {
-					$dirname = dirname($dirname);
-					next;
-				}
-				err_dir_to_file("$m->{file_a} => $m->{file_b}");
-			}
-		}
-		if ($m->{chg} =~ /^(D|R)$/) {
-			my $t = $1 eq 'D' ? 'file_b' : 'file_a';
-			$rm_file{ $m->{$t} } = 1;
-			my $dirname = dirname( $m->{$t} );
-			my $basename = basename( $m->{$t} );
-			$rmdir_check{$dirname}->{$basename} = 1;
-		} elsif ($m->{chg} =~ /^(?:A|C)$/) {
-			if (-d $m->{file_b}) {
-				err_dir_to_file($m->{file_b});
-			}
-			my $dirname = dirname( $m->{file_b} );
-			my $basename = basename( $m->{file_b} );
-			$added_check{$dirname}->{$basename} = 1;
-			while ($dirname ne File::Spec->curdir) {
-				if ($rm_file{$dirname}) {
-					err_file_to_dir($m->{file_b});
-				}
-				$dirname = dirname $dirname;
-			}
-		}
-	}
-	return (\%rmdir_check, \%added_check);
-
-	sub err_dir_to_file {
-		my $file = shift;
-		print STDERR "Node change from directory to file ",
-				"is not supported by Subversion: ",$file,"\n";
-		exit 1;
-	}
-	sub err_file_to_dir {
-		my $file = shift;
-		print STDERR "Node change from file to directory ",
-				"is not supported by Subversion: ",$file,"\n";
-		exit 1;
-	}
-}
-
-
-sub get_diff {
-	my ($from, $treeish) = @_;
-	assert_tree($from);
-	print "diff-tree $from $treeish\n";
-	my $pid = open my $diff_fh, '-|';
-	defined $pid or croak $!;
-	if ($pid == 0) {
-		my @diff_tree = qw(git-diff-tree -z -r);
-		if ($_cp_similarity) {
-			push @diff_tree, "-C$_cp_similarity";
-		} else {
-			push @diff_tree, '-C';
-		}
-		push @diff_tree, '--find-copies-harder' if $_find_copies_harder;
-		push @diff_tree, "-l$_l" if defined $_l;
-		exec(@diff_tree, $from, $treeish) or croak $!;
-	}
-	return parse_diff_tree($diff_fh);
-}
-
-sub svn_checkout_tree {
-	my ($from, $treeish) = @_;
-	my $mods = get_diff($from->{commit}, $treeish);
-	return $mods unless (scalar @$mods);
-	my ($rm, $add) = precommit_check($mods);
-
-	my %o = ( D => 1, R => 0, C => -1, A => 3, M => 3, T => 3 );
-	foreach my $m (sort { $o{$a->{chg}} <=> $o{$b->{chg}} } @$mods) {
-		if ($m->{chg} eq 'C') {
-			svn_ensure_parent_path( $m->{file_b} );
-			sys(qw(svn cp),		$m->{file_a}, $m->{file_b});
-			apply_mod_line_blob($m);
-			svn_check_prop_executable($m);
-		} elsif ($m->{chg} eq 'D') {
-			sys(qw(svn rm --force), $m->{file_b});
-		} elsif ($m->{chg} eq 'R') {
-			svn_ensure_parent_path( $m->{file_b} );
-			sys(qw(svn mv --force), $m->{file_a}, $m->{file_b});
-			apply_mod_line_blob($m);
-			svn_check_prop_executable($m);
-		} elsif ($m->{chg} eq 'M') {
-			apply_mod_line_blob($m);
-			svn_check_prop_executable($m);
-		} elsif ($m->{chg} eq 'T') {
-			svn_check_prop_executable($m);
-			apply_mod_line_blob($m);
-			if ($m->{mode_a} =~ /^120/ && $m->{mode_b} !~ /^120/) {
-				sys(qw(svn propdel svn:special), $m->{file_b});
-			} else {
-				sys(qw(svn propset svn:special *),$m->{file_b});
-			}
-		} elsif ($m->{chg} eq 'A') {
-			svn_ensure_parent_path( $m->{file_b} );
-			apply_mod_line_blob($m);
-			sys(qw(svn add), $m->{file_b});
-			svn_check_prop_executable($m);
-		} else {
-			croak "Invalid chg: $m->{chg}\n";
-		}
-	}
-
-	assert_tree($treeish);
-	if ($_rmdir) { # remove empty directories
-		handle_rmdir($rm, $add);
-	}
-	assert_tree($treeish);
-	return $mods;
-}
-
 sub libsvn_checkout_tree {
 	my ($from, $treeish, $ed) = @_;
 	my $mods = get_diff($from, $treeish);
@@ -1633,57 +1219,15 @@ sub libsvn_checkout_tree {
 	return $mods;
 }
 
-# svn ls doesn't work with respect to the current working tree, but what's
-# in the repository.  There's not even an option for it... *sigh*
-# (added files don't show up and removed files remain in the ls listing)
-sub svn_ls_current {
-	my ($dir, $rm, $add) = @_;
-	chomp(my @ls = safe_qx('svn','ls',$dir));
-	my @ret = ();
-	foreach (@ls) {
-		s#/$##; # trailing slashes are evil
-		push @ret, $_ unless $rm->{$dir}->{$_};
-	}
-	if (exists $add->{$dir}) {
-		push @ret, keys %{$add->{$dir}};
-	}
-	return \@ret;
-}
-
-sub handle_rmdir {
-	my ($rm, $add) = @_;
-
-	foreach my $dir (sort {length $b <=> length $a} keys %$rm) {
-		my $ls = svn_ls_current($dir, $rm, $add);
-		next if (scalar @$ls);
-		sys(qw(svn rm --force),$dir);
-
-		my $dn = dirname $dir;
-		$rm->{ $dn }->{ basename $dir } = 1;
-		$ls = svn_ls_current($dn, $rm, $add);
-		while (scalar @$ls == 0 && $dn ne File::Spec->curdir) {
-			sys(qw(svn rm --force),$dn);
-			$dir = basename $dn;
-			$dn = dirname $dn;
-			$rm->{ $dn }->{ $dir } = 1;
-			$ls = svn_ls_current($dn, $rm, $add);
-		}
-	}
-}
-
 sub get_commit_message {
 	my ($commit, $commit_msg) = (@_);
 	my %log_msg = ( msg => '' );
 	open my $msg, '>', $commit_msg or croak $!;
 
-	chomp(my $type = `git-cat-file -t $commit`);
+	my $type = command_oneline(qw/cat-file -t/, $commit);
 	if ($type eq 'commit' || $type eq 'tag') {
-		my $pid = open my $msg_fh, '-|';
-		defined $pid or croak $!;
-
-		if ($pid == 0) {
-			exec('git-cat-file', $type, $commit) or croak $!;
-		}
+		my ($msg_fh, $ctx) = command_output_pipe('cat-file',
+		                                         $type, $commit);
 		my $in_msg = 0;
 		while (<$msg_fh>) {
 			if (!$in_msg) {
@@ -1695,7 +1239,7 @@ sub get_commit_message {
 				print $msg $_ or croak $!;
 			}
 		}
-		close $msg_fh or croak $?;
+		command_close_pipe($msg_fh, $ctx);
 	}
 	close $msg or croak $!;
 
@@ -1720,64 +1264,9 @@ sub set_svn_commit_env {
 	}
 }
 
-sub svn_commit_tree {
-	my ($last, $commit) = @_;
-	my $commit_msg = "$GIT_SVN_DIR/.svn-commit.tmp.$$";
-	my $log_msg = get_commit_message($commit, $commit_msg);
-	my ($oneline) = ($log_msg->{msg} =~ /([^\n\r]+)/);
-	print "Committing $commit: $oneline\n";
-
-	set_svn_commit_env();
-	my @ci_output = safe_qx(qw(svn commit -F),$commit_msg);
-	$ENV{LC_ALL} = 'C';
-	unlink $commit_msg;
-	my ($committed) = ($ci_output[$#ci_output] =~ /(\d+)/);
-	if (!defined $committed) {
-		my $out = join("\n",@ci_output);
-		print STDERR "W: Trouble parsing \`svn commit' output:\n\n",
-				$out, "\n\nAssuming English locale...";
-		($committed) = ($out =~ /^Committed revision \d+\./sm);
-		defined $committed or die " FAILED!\n",
-			"Commit output failed to parse committed revision!\n",
-		print STDERR " OK\n";
-	}
-
-	my @svn_up = qw(svn up);
-	push @svn_up, '--ignore-externals' unless $_no_ignore_ext;
-	if ($_optimize_commits && ($committed == ($last->{revision} + 1))) {
-		push @svn_up, "-r$committed";
-		sys(@svn_up);
-		my $info = svn_info('.');
-		my $date = $info->{'Last Changed Date'} or die "Missing date\n";
-		if ($info->{'Last Changed Rev'} != $committed) {
-			croak "$info->{'Last Changed Rev'} != $committed\n"
-		}
-		my ($Y,$m,$d,$H,$M,$S,$tz) = ($date =~
-					/(\d{4})\-(\d\d)\-(\d\d)\s
-					 (\d\d)\:(\d\d)\:(\d\d)\s([\-\+]\d+)/x)
-					 or croak "Failed to parse date: $date\n";
-		$log_msg->{date} = "$tz $Y-$m-$d $H:$M:$S";
-		$log_msg->{author} = $info->{'Last Changed Author'};
-		$log_msg->{revision} = $committed;
-		$log_msg->{msg} .= "\n";
-		$log_msg->{parents} = [ $last->{commit} ];
-		$log_msg->{commit} = git_commit($log_msg, $commit);
-		return $log_msg;
-	}
-	# resync immediately
-	push @svn_up, "-r$last->{revision}";
-	sys(@svn_up);
-	return fetch("$committed=$commit");
-}
-
 sub rev_list_raw {
-	my (@args) = @_;
-	my $pid = open my $fh, '-|';
-	defined $pid or croak $!;
-	if (!$pid) {
-		exec(qw/git-rev-list --pretty=raw/, @args) or croak $!;
-	}
-	return { fh => $fh, t => { } };
+	my ($fh, $c) = command_output_pipe(qw/rev-list --pretty=raw/, @_);
+	return { fh => $fh, ctx => $c, t => { } };
 }
 
 sub next_rev_list_entry {
@@ -1799,184 +1288,10 @@ sub next_rev_list_entry {
 			$x->{m} .= $_;
 		}
 	}
+	command_close_pipe($fh, $rl->{ctx});
 	return ($x != $rl->{t}) ? $x : undef;
 }
 
-# read the entire log into a temporary file (which is removed ASAP)
-# and store the file handle + parser state
-sub svn_log_raw {
-	my (@log_args) = @_;
-	my $log_fh = IO::File->new_tmpfile or croak $!;
-	my $pid = fork;
-	defined $pid or croak $!;
-	if (!$pid) {
-		open STDOUT, '>&', $log_fh or croak $!;
-		exec (qw(svn log), @log_args) or croak $!
-	}
-	waitpid $pid, 0;
-	croak $? if $?;
-	seek $log_fh, 0, 0 or croak $!;
-	return { state => 'sep', fh => $log_fh };
-}
-
-sub next_log_entry {
-	my $log = shift; # retval of svn_log_raw()
-	my $ret = undef;
-	my $fh = $log->{fh};
-
-	while (<$fh>) {
-		chomp;
-		if (/^\-{72}$/) {
-			if ($log->{state} eq 'msg') {
-				if ($ret->{lines}) {
-					$ret->{msg} .= $_."\n";
-					unless(--$ret->{lines}) {
-						$log->{state} = 'sep';
-					}
-				} else {
-					croak "Log parse error at: $_\n",
-						$ret->{revision},
-						"\n";
-				}
-				next;
-			}
-			if ($log->{state} ne 'sep') {
-				croak "Log parse error at: $_\n",
-					"state: $log->{state}\n",
-					$ret->{revision},
-					"\n";
-			}
-			$log->{state} = 'rev';
-
-			# if we have an empty log message, put something there:
-			if ($ret) {
-				$ret->{msg} ||= "\n";
-				delete $ret->{lines};
-				return $ret;
-			}
-			next;
-		}
-		if ($log->{state} eq 'rev' && s/^r(\d+)\s*\|\s*//) {
-			my $rev = $1;
-			my ($author, $date, $lines) = split(/\s*\|\s*/, $_, 3);
-			($lines) = ($lines =~ /(\d+)/);
-			$date = '1970-01-01 00:00:00 +0000'
-				if ($_ignore_nodate && $date eq '(no date)');
-			my ($Y,$m,$d,$H,$M,$S,$tz) = ($date =~
-					/(\d{4})\-(\d\d)\-(\d\d)\s
-					 (\d\d)\:(\d\d)\:(\d\d)\s([\-\+]\d+)/x)
-					 or croak "Failed to parse date: $date\n";
-			$ret = {	revision => $rev,
-					date => "$tz $Y-$m-$d $H:$M:$S",
-					author => $author,
-					lines => $lines,
-					msg => '' };
-			if (defined $_authors && ! defined $users{$author}) {
-				die "Author: $author not defined in ",
-						"$_authors file\n";
-			}
-			$log->{state} = 'msg_start';
-			next;
-		}
-		# skip the first blank line of the message:
-		if ($log->{state} eq 'msg_start' && /^$/) {
-			$log->{state} = 'msg';
-		} elsif ($log->{state} eq 'msg') {
-			if ($ret->{lines}) {
-				$ret->{msg} .= $_."\n";
-				unless (--$ret->{lines}) {
-					$log->{state} = 'sep';
-				}
-			} else {
-				croak "Log parse error at: $_\n",
-					$ret->{revision},"\n";
-			}
-		}
-	}
-	return $ret;
-}
-
-sub svn_info {
-	my $url = shift || $SVN_URL;
-
-	my $pid = open my $info_fh, '-|';
-	defined $pid or croak $!;
-
-	if ($pid == 0) {
-		exec(qw(svn info),$url) or croak $!;
-	}
-
-	my $ret = {};
-	# only single-lines seem to exist in svn info output
-	while (<$info_fh>) {
-		chomp $_;
-		if (m#^([^:]+)\s*:\s*(\S.*)$#) {
-			$ret->{$1} = $2;
-			push @{$ret->{-order}}, $1;
-		}
-	}
-	close $info_fh or croak $?;
-	return $ret;
-}
-
-sub sys { system(@_) == 0 or croak $? }
-
-sub do_update_index {
-	my ($z_cmd, $cmd, $no_text_base) = @_;
-
-	my $z = open my $p, '-|';
-	defined $z or croak $!;
-	unless ($z) { exec @$z_cmd or croak $! }
-
-	my $pid = open my $ui, '|-';
-	defined $pid or croak $!;
-	unless ($pid) {
-		exec('git-update-index',"--$cmd",'-z','--stdin') or croak $!;
-	}
-	local $/ = "\0";
-	while (my $x = <$p>) {
-		chomp $x;
-		if (!$no_text_base && lstat $x && ! -l _ &&
-				svn_propget_base('svn:keywords', $x)) {
-			my $mode = -x _ ? 0755 : 0644;
-			my ($v,$d,$f) = File::Spec->splitpath($x);
-			my $tb = File::Spec->catfile($d, '.svn', 'tmp',
-						'text-base',"$f.svn-base");
-			$tb =~ s#^/##;
-			unless (-f $tb) {
-				$tb = File::Spec->catfile($d, '.svn',
-						'text-base',"$f.svn-base");
-				$tb =~ s#^/##;
-			}
-			my @s = stat($x);
-			unlink $x or croak $!;
-			copy($tb, $x);
-			chmod(($mode &~ umask), $x) or croak $!;
-			utime $s[8], $s[9], $x;
-		}
-		print $ui $x,"\0";
-	}
-	close $ui or croak $?;
-}
-
-sub index_changes {
-	return if $_use_lib;
-
-	if (!-f "$GIT_SVN_DIR/info/exclude") {
-		open my $fd, '>>', "$GIT_SVN_DIR/info/exclude" or croak $!;
-		print $fd '.svn',"\n";
-		close $fd or croak $!;
-	}
-	my $no_text_base = shift;
-	do_update_index([qw/git-diff-files --name-only -z/],
-			'remove',
-			$no_text_base);
-	do_update_index([qw/git-ls-files -z --others/,
-				"--exclude-from=$GIT_SVN_DIR/info/exclude"],
-			'add',
-			$no_text_base);
-}
-
 sub s_to_file {
 	my ($str, $file, $mode) = @_;
 	open my $fd,'>',$file or croak $!;
@@ -2002,18 +1317,6 @@ sub assert_revision_unknown {
 	}
 }
 
-sub trees_eq {
-	my ($x, $y) = @_;
-	my @x = safe_qx('git-cat-file','commit',$x);
-	my @y = safe_qx('git-cat-file','commit',$y);
-	if (($y[0] ne $x[0]) || $x[0] !~ /^tree $sha1\n$/
-				|| $y[0] !~ /^tree $sha1\n$/) {
-		print STDERR "Trees not equal: $y[0] != $x[0]\n";
-		return 0
-	}
-	return 1;
-}
-
 sub git_commit {
 	my ($log_msg, @parents) = @_;
 	assert_revision_unknown($log_msg->{revision});
@@ -2038,34 +1341,23 @@ sub git_commit {
 	my $tree = $log_msg->{tree};
 	if (!defined $tree) {
 		my $index = set_index($GIT_SVN_INDEX);
-		index_changes();
-		chomp($tree = `git-write-tree`);
+		$tree = command_oneline('write-tree');
 		croak $? if $?;
 		restore_index($index);
 	}
-
 	# just in case we clobber the existing ref, we still want that ref
 	# as our parent:
-	open my $null, '>', '/dev/null' or croak $!;
-	open my $stderr, '>&', \*STDERR or croak $!;
-	open STDERR, '>&', $null or croak $!;
-	if (my $cur = eval { safe_qx('git-rev-parse',
-	                             "refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN^0") }) {
+	if (my $cur = verify_ref("refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN^0")) {
 		chomp $cur;
 		push @tmp_parents, $cur;
 	}
-	open STDERR, '>&', $stderr or croak $!;
-	close $stderr or croak $!;
-	close $null or croak $!;
 
 	if (exists $tree_map{$tree}) {
 		foreach my $p (@{$tree_map{$tree}}) {
 			my $skip;
 			foreach (@tmp_parents) {
 				# see if a common parent is found
-				my $mb = eval {
-					safe_qx('git-merge-base', $_, $p)
-				};
+				my $mb = eval { command('merge-base', $_, $p) };
 				next if ($@ || $?);
 				$skip = 1;
 				last;
@@ -2107,7 +1399,7 @@ sub git_commit {
 	if ($commit !~ /^$sha1$/o) {
 		die "Failed to commit, invalid sha1: $commit\n";
 	}
-	sys('git-update-ref',"refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN",$commit);
+	command_noisy('update-ref',"refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN",$commit);
 	revdb_set($REVDB, $log_msg->{revision}, $commit);
 
 	# this output is read via pipe, do not change:
@@ -2119,7 +1411,8 @@ sub git_commit {
 sub check_repack {
 	if ($_repack && (--$_repack_nr == 0)) {
 		$_repack_nr = $_repack;
-		sys("git repack $_repack_flags");
+		# repack doesn't use any arguments with spaces in them, does it?
+		command_noisy('repack', split(/\s+/, $_repack_flags));
 	}
 }
 
@@ -2136,122 +1429,17 @@ sub set_commit_env {
 	$ENV{GIT_AUTHOR_DATE} = $ENV{GIT_COMMITTER_DATE} = $log_msg->{date};
 }
 
-sub apply_mod_line_blob {
-	my $m = shift;
-	if ($m->{mode_b} =~ /^120/) {
-		blob_to_symlink($m->{sha1_b}, $m->{file_b});
-	} else {
-		blob_to_file($m->{sha1_b}, $m->{file_b});
-	}
-}
-
-sub blob_to_symlink {
-	my ($blob, $link) = @_;
-	defined $link or croak "\$link not defined!\n";
-	croak "Not a sha1: $blob\n" unless $blob =~ /^$sha1$/o;
-	if (-l $link || -f _) {
-		unlink $link or croak $!;
-	}
-
-	my $dest = `git-cat-file blob $blob`; # no newline, so no chomp
-	symlink $dest, $link or croak $!;
-}
-
-sub blob_to_file {
-	my ($blob, $file) = @_;
-	defined $file or croak "\$file not defined!\n";
-	croak "Not a sha1: $blob\n" unless $blob =~ /^$sha1$/o;
-	if (-l $file || -f _) {
-		unlink $file or croak $!;
-	}
-
-	open my $blob_fh, '>', $file or croak "$!: $file\n";
-	my $pid = fork;
-	defined $pid or croak $!;
-
-	if ($pid == 0) {
-		open STDOUT, '>&', $blob_fh or croak $!;
-		exec('git-cat-file','blob',$blob) or croak $!;
-	}
-	waitpid $pid, 0;
-	croak $? if $?;
-
-	close $blob_fh or croak $!;
-}
-
-sub safe_qx {
-	my $pid = open my $child, '-|';
-	defined $pid or croak $!;
-	if ($pid == 0) {
-		exec(@_) or croak $!;
-	}
-	my @ret = (<$child>);
-	close $child or croak $?;
-	die $? if $?; # just in case close didn't error out
-	return wantarray ? @ret : join('',@ret);
-}
-
-sub svn_compat_check {
-	if ($_follow_parent) {
-		print STDERR 'E: --follow-parent functionality is only ',
-				"available when SVN libraries are used\n";
-		exit 1;
-	}
-	my @co_help = safe_qx(qw(svn co -h));
-	unless (grep /ignore-externals/,@co_help) {
-		print STDERR "W: Installed svn version does not support ",
-				"--ignore-externals\n";
-		$_no_ignore_ext = 1;
-	}
-	if (grep /usage: checkout URL\[\@REV\]/,@co_help) {
-		$_svn_co_url_revs = 1;
-	}
-	if (grep /\[TARGET\[\@REV\]\.\.\.\]/, `svn propget -h`) {
-		$_svn_pg_peg_revs = 1;
-	}
-
-	# I really, really hope nobody hits this...
-	unless (grep /stop-on-copy/, (safe_qx(qw(svn log -h)))) {
-		print STDERR <<'';
-W: The installed svn version does not support the --stop-on-copy flag in
-   the log command.
-   Lets hope the directory you're tracking is not a branch or tag
-   and was never moved within the repository...
-
-		$_no_stop_copy = 1;
-	}
-}
-
-# *sigh*, new versions of svn won't honor -r<rev> without URL@<rev>,
-# (and they won't honor URL@<rev> without -r<rev>, too!)
-sub svn_cmd_checkout {
-	my ($url, $rev, $dir) = @_;
-	my @cmd = ('svn','co', "-r$rev");
-	push @cmd, '--ignore-externals' unless $_no_ignore_ext;
-	$url .= "\@$rev" if $_svn_co_url_revs;
-	sys(@cmd, $url, $dir);
-}
-
 sub check_upgrade_needed {
 	if (!-r $REVDB) {
 		-d $GIT_SVN_DIR or mkpath([$GIT_SVN_DIR]);
 		open my $fh, '>>',$REVDB or croak $!;
 		close $fh;
 	}
-	my $old = eval {
-		my $pid = open my $child, '-|';
-		defined $pid or croak $!;
-		if ($pid == 0) {
-			close STDERR;
-			exec('git-rev-parse',"$GIT_SVN-HEAD") or croak $!;
-		}
-		my @ret = (<$child>);
-		close $child or croak $?;
-		die $? if $?; # just in case close didn't error out
-		return wantarray ? @ret : join('',@ret);
+	return unless eval {
+		command([qw/rev-parse --verify/,"$GIT_SVN-HEAD^0"],
+		        {STDERR => 0});
 	};
-	return unless $old;
-	my $head = eval { safe_qx('git-rev-parse',"refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN") };
+	my $head = eval { command('rev-parse',"refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN") };
 	if ($@ || !$head) {
 		print STDERR "Please run: $0 rebuild --upgrade\n";
 		exit 1;
@@ -2263,12 +1451,8 @@ sub check_upgrade_needed {
 sub map_tree_joins {
 	my %seen;
 	foreach my $br (@_branch_from) {
-		my $pid = open my $pipe, '-|';
-		defined $pid or croak $!;
-		if ($pid == 0) {
-			exec(qw(git-rev-list --topo-order --pretty=raw), $br)
-								or croak $!;
-		}
+		my $pipe = command_output_pipe(qw/rev-list
+		                            --topo-order --pretty=raw/, $br);
 		while (<$pipe>) {
 			if (/^commit ($sha1)$/o) {
 				my $commit = $1;
@@ -2284,7 +1468,7 @@ sub map_tree_joins {
 				$seen{$commit} = 1;
 			}
 		}
-		close $pipe; # we could be breaking the pipe early
+		eval { command_close_pipe($pipe) };
 	}
 }
 
@@ -2296,7 +1480,7 @@ sub load_all_refs {
 
 	# don't worry about rev-list on non-commit objects/tags,
 	# it shouldn't blow up if a ref is a blob or tree...
-	chomp(@_branch_from = `git-rev-parse --symbolic --all`);
+	@_branch_from = command(qw/rev-parse --symbolic --all/);
 }
 
 # '<svn username> = real-name <email address>' mapping based on git-svnimport:
@@ -2322,15 +1506,9 @@ sub rload_authors {
 	close $authors or croak $!;
 }
 
-sub svn_propget_base {
-	my ($p, $f) = @_;
-	$f .= '@BASE' if $_svn_pg_peg_revs;
-	return safe_qx(qw/svn propget/, $p, $f);
-}
-
 sub git_svn_each {
 	my $sub = shift;
-	foreach (`git-rev-parse --symbolic --all`) {
+	foreach (command(qw/rev-parse --symbolic --all/)) {
 		next unless s#^refs/remotes/##;
 		chomp $_;
 		next unless -f "$GIT_DIR/svn/$_/info/url";
@@ -2371,7 +1549,7 @@ sub migration_check {
 				"$GIT_SVN_DIR\n\t(required for this version ",
 				"($VERSION) of git-svn) does not.\n";
 
-	foreach my $x (`git-rev-parse --symbolic --all`) {
+	foreach my $x (command(qw/rev-parse --symbolic --all/)) {
 		next unless $x =~ s#^refs/remotes/##;
 		chomp $x;
 		next unless -f "$GIT_DIR/$x/info/url";
@@ -2476,11 +1654,7 @@ sub write_grafts {
 		my $p = $grafts->{$c};
 		my %x; # real parents
 		delete $p->{$c}; # commits are not self-reproducing...
-		my $pid = open my $ch, '-|';
-		defined $pid or croak $!;
-		if (!$pid) {
-			exec(qw/git-cat-file commit/, $c) or croak $!;
-		}
+		my $ch = command_output_pipe(qw/cat-file commit/, $c);
 		while (<$ch>) {
 			if (/^parent ($sha1)/) {
 				$x{$1} = $p->{$1} = 1;
@@ -2488,7 +1662,7 @@ sub write_grafts {
 				last unless /^\S/;
 			}
 		}
-		close $ch; # breaking the pipe
+		eval { command_close_pipe($ch) }; # breaking the pipe
 
 		# if real parents are the only ones in the grafts, drop it
 		next if join(' ',sort keys %$p) eq join(' ',sort keys %x);
@@ -2500,7 +1674,7 @@ sub write_grafts {
 			next if $del{$i} || $p->{$i} == 2;
 			foreach my $j (@jp) {
 				next if $i eq $j || $del{$j} || $p->{$j} == 2;
-				$mb = eval { safe_qx('git-merge-base',$i,$j) };
+				$mb = eval { command('merge-base', $i, $j) };
 				next unless $mb;
 				chomp $mb;
 				next if $x{$mb};
@@ -2571,15 +1745,12 @@ sub extract_metadata {
 
 sub cmt_metadata {
 	return extract_metadata((grep(/^git-svn-id: /,
-		safe_qx(qw/git-cat-file commit/, shift)))[-1]);
+		command(qw/cat-file commit/, shift)))[-1]);
 }
 
 sub get_commit_time {
 	my $cmt = shift;
-	defined(my $pid = open my $fh, '-|') or croak $!;
-	if (!$pid) {
-		exec qw/git-rev-list --pretty=raw -n1/, $cmt or croak $!;
-	}
+	my $fh = command_output_pipe(qw/rev-list --pretty=raw -n1/, $cmt);
 	while (<$fh>) {
 		/^committer\s(?:.+) (\d+) ([\-\+]?\d+)$/ or next;
 		my ($s, $tz) = ($1, $2);
@@ -2588,7 +1759,7 @@ sub get_commit_time {
 		} elsif ($tz =~ s/^\-//) {
 			$s -= tz_to_s_offset($tz);
 		}
-		close $fh;
+		eval { command_close_pipe($fh) };
 		return $s;
 	}
 	die "Can't get commit time for commit: $cmt\n";
@@ -2734,34 +1905,6 @@ sub show_commit_normal {
 	}
 }
 
-sub libsvn_load {
-	return unless $_use_lib;
-	$_use_lib = eval {
-		require SVN::Core;
-		if ($SVN::Core::VERSION lt '1.1.0') {
-			die "Need SVN::Core 1.1.0 or better ",
-					"(got $SVN::Core::VERSION) ",
-					"Falling back to command-line svn\n";
-		}
-		require SVN::Ra;
-		require SVN::Delta;
-		push @SVN::Git::Editor::ISA, 'SVN::Delta::Editor';
-		push @SVN::Git::Fetcher::ISA, 'SVN::Delta::Editor';
-		*SVN::Git::Fetcher::process_rm = *process_rm;
-		*SVN::Git::Fetcher::safe_qx = *safe_qx;
-		my $kill_stupid_warnings = $SVN::Node::none.$SVN::Node::file.
-					$SVN::Node::dir.$SVN::Node::unknown.
-					$SVN::Node::none.$SVN::Node::file.
-					$SVN::Node::dir.$SVN::Node::unknown.
-					$SVN::Auth::SSL::CNMISMATCH.
-					$SVN::Auth::SSL::NOTYETVALID.
-					$SVN::Auth::SSL::EXPIRED.
-					$SVN::Auth::SSL::UNKNOWNCA.
-					$SVN::Auth::SSL::OTHER;
-		1;
-	};
-}
-
 sub _simple_prompt {
 	my ($cred, $realm, $default_username, $may_save, $pool) = @_;
 	$may_save = undef if $_no_auth_cache;
@@ -2965,7 +2108,7 @@ sub libsvn_get_file {
 	my $mode = exists $props->{'svn:executable'} ? '100755' : '100644';
 	if (exists $props->{'svn:special'}) {
 		$mode = '120000';
-		my $link = `git-cat-file blob $hash`;
+		my $link = `git-cat-file blob $hash`; # no chomping symlinks
 		$link =~ s/^link // or die "svn:special file with contents: <",
 						$link, "> is not understood\n";
 		defined($pid = open3($in, $out, '>&STDERR',
@@ -3069,19 +2212,17 @@ sub libsvn_log_entry {
 sub process_rm {
 	my ($gui, $last_commit, $f, $q) = @_;
 	# remove entire directories.
-	if (safe_qx('git-ls-tree',$last_commit,'--',$f) =~ /^040000 tree/) {
-		defined(my $pid = open my $ls, '-|') or croak $!;
-		if (!$pid) {
-			exec(qw/git-ls-tree -r --name-only -z/,
-				$last_commit,'--',$f) or croak $!;
-		}
+	if (command('ls-tree',$last_commit,'--',$f) =~ /^040000 tree/) {
+		my ($ls, $ctx) = command_output_pipe(qw/ls-tree
+		                                     -r --name-only -z/,
+				                     $last_commit,'--',$f);
 		local $/ = "\0";
 		while (<$ls>) {
 			print $gui '0 ',0 x 40,"\t",$_ or croak $!;
 			print "\tD\t$_\n" unless $q;
 		}
 		print "\tD\t$f/\n" unless $q;
-		close $ls or croak $?;
+		command_close_pipe($ls, $ctx);
 		return $SVN::Node::dir;
 	} else {
 		print $gui '0 ',0 x 40,"\t",$f,"\0" or croak $!;
@@ -3112,7 +2253,7 @@ sub libsvn_fetch_delta {
 
 sub libsvn_fetch_full {
 	my ($last_commit, $paths, $rev, $author, $date, $msg) = @_;
-	open my $gui, '| git-update-index -z --index-info' or croak $!;
+	my ($gui, $ctx) = command_input_pipe(qw/update-index -z --index-info/);
 	my %amr;
 	my $ut = { empty => {}, dir_prop => {}, file_prop => {} };
 	my $p = $SVN->{svn_path};
@@ -3166,20 +2307,14 @@ sub libsvn_fetch_full {
 		%{$ut->{dir_prop}->{''}} = %$props;
 		$pool->clear;
 	}
-	close $gui or croak $?;
+	command_close_pipe($gui, $ctx);
 	libsvn_log_entry($rev, $author, $date, $msg, [$last_commit], $ut);
 }
 
 sub svn_grab_base_rev {
-	defined(my $pid = open my $fh, '-|') or croak $!;
-	if (!$pid) {
-		open my $null, '>', '/dev/null' or croak $!;
-		open STDERR, '>&', $null or croak $!;
-		exec qw/git-rev-parse --verify/,"refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN^0"
-								or croak $!;
-	}
-	chomp(my $c = do { local $/; <$fh> });
-	close $fh;
+	my $c = eval { command_oneline([qw/rev-parse --verify/,
+	                                "refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN^0"],
+				        { STDERR => 0 }) };
 	if (defined $c && length $c) {
 		my ($url, $rev, $uuid) = cmt_metadata($c);
 		return ($rev, $c) if defined $rev;
@@ -3292,18 +2427,11 @@ sub revisions_eq {
 	my ($path, $r0, $r1) = @_;
 	return 1 if $r0 == $r1;
 	my $nr = 0;
-	if ($_use_lib) {
-		# should be OK to use Pool here (r1 - r0) should be small
-		my $pool = SVN::Pool->new;
-		libsvn_get_log($SVN, [$path], $r0, $r1,
-				0, 0, 1, sub {$nr++}, $pool);
-		$pool->clear;
-	} else {
-		my ($url, undef) = repo_path_split($SVN_URL);
-		my $svn_log = svn_log_raw("$url/$path","-r$r0:$r1");
-		while (next_log_entry($svn_log)) { $nr++ }
-		close $svn_log->{fh};
-	}
+	# should be OK to use Pool here (r1 - r0) should be small
+	my $pool = SVN::Pool->new;
+	libsvn_get_log($SVN, [$path], $r0, $r1,
+			0, 0, 1, sub {$nr++}, $pool);
+	$pool->clear;
 	return 0 if ($nr > 1);
 	return 1;
 }
@@ -3358,7 +2486,7 @@ sub libsvn_find_parent_branch {
 	if (revisions_eq($branch_from, $r0, $r)) {
 		unlink $GIT_SVN_INDEX;
 		print STDERR "Found branch parent: ($GIT_SVN) $parent\n";
-		sys(qw/git-read-tree/, $parent);
+		command_noisy('read-tree', $parent);
 		unless (libsvn_can_do_switch()) {
 			return libsvn_fetch_full($parent, $paths, $rev,
 						$author, $date, $msg);
@@ -3367,7 +2495,7 @@ sub libsvn_find_parent_branch {
 		# included with SVN 1.4.2 (the latest version at the moment),
 		# so we can't rely on it.
 		my $ra = libsvn_connect("$url/$branch_from");
-		my $ed = SVN::Git::Fetcher->new({c => $parent, q => $_q});
+		my $ed = SVN::Git::Fetcher->new({c => $parent, q => $_q });
 		my $pool = SVN::Pool->new;
 		my $reporter = $ra->do_switch($rev, '', 1, $SVN->{url},
 		                              $ed, $pool);
@@ -3413,9 +2541,10 @@ sub libsvn_new_tree {
 		$ut = $ed;
 	} else {
 		$ut = { empty => {}, dir_prop => {}, file_prop => {} };
-		open my $gui, '| git-update-index -z --index-info' or croak $!;
+	        my ($gui, $ctx) = command_input_pipe(qw/update-index
+	                                             -z --index-info/);
 		libsvn_traverse($gui, '', $SVN->{svn_path}, $rev, undef, $ut);
-		close $gui or croak $?;
+		command_close_pipe($gui, $ctx);
 	}
 	libsvn_log_entry($rev, $author, $date, $msg, [], $ut);
 }
@@ -3487,7 +2616,7 @@ sub libsvn_commit_cb {
 		my $log = libsvn_log_entry($rev,$committer,$date,$msg);
 		$log->{tree} = get_tree_from_treeish($c);
 		my $cmt = git_commit($log, $cmt_last, $c);
-		my @diff = safe_qx('git-diff-tree', $cmt, $c);
+		my @diff = command('diff-tree', $cmt, $c);
 		if (@diff) {
 			print STDERR "Trees differ: $cmt $c\n",
 					join('',@diff),"\n";
@@ -3579,27 +2708,40 @@ sub revdb_get {
 sub copy_remote_ref {
 	my $origin = $_cp_remote ? $_cp_remote : 'origin';
 	my $ref = "refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN";
-	if (safe_qx('git-ls-remote', $origin, $ref)) {
-		sys(qw/git fetch/, $origin, "$ref:$ref");
+	if (command('ls-remote', $origin, $ref)) {
+		command_noisy('fetch', $origin, "$ref:$ref");
 	} elsif ($_cp_remote && !$_upgrade) {
 		die "Unable to find remote reference: ",
 				"refs/remotes/$GIT_SVN on $origin\n";
 	}
 }
+
+{
+	my $kill_stupid_warnings = $SVN::Node::none.$SVN::Node::file.
+				$SVN::Node::dir.$SVN::Node::unknown.
+				$SVN::Node::none.$SVN::Node::file.
+				$SVN::Node::dir.$SVN::Node::unknown.
+				$SVN::Auth::SSL::CNMISMATCH.
+				$SVN::Auth::SSL::NOTYETVALID.
+				$SVN::Auth::SSL::EXPIRED.
+				$SVN::Auth::SSL::UNKNOWNCA.
+				$SVN::Auth::SSL::OTHER;
+}
+
 package SVN::Git::Fetcher;
 use vars qw/@ISA/;
 use strict;
 use warnings;
 use Carp qw/croak/;
 use IO::File qw//;
+use Git qw/command command_oneline command_noisy
+           command_output_pipe command_input_pipe command_close_pipe/;
 
 # file baton members: path, mode_a, mode_b, pool, fh, blob, base
 sub new {
 	my ($class, $git_svn) = @_;
 	my $self = SVN::Delta::Editor->new;
 	bless $self, $class;
-	open my $gui, '| git-update-index -z --index-info' or croak $!;
-	$self->{gui} = $gui;
 	$self->{c} = $git_svn->{c} if exists $git_svn->{c};
 	$self->{q} = $git_svn->{q};
 	$self->{empty} = {};
@@ -3607,6 +2749,8 @@ sub new {
 	$self->{file_prop} = {};
 	$self->{absent_dir} = {};
 	$self->{absent_file} = {};
+	($self->{gui}, $self->{ctx}) = command_input_pipe(
+	                                     qw/update-index -z --index-info/);
 	require Digest::MD5;
 	$self;
 }
@@ -3629,7 +2773,7 @@ sub delete_entry {
 
 sub open_file {
 	my ($self, $path, $pb, $rev) = @_;
-	my ($mode, $blob) = (safe_qx('git-ls-tree',$self->{c},'--',$path)
+	my ($mode, $blob) = (command('ls-tree', $self->{c}, '--',$path)
 	                     =~ /^(\d{6}) blob ([a-f\d]{40})\t/);
 	unless (defined $mode && defined $blob) {
 		die "$path was not found in commit $self->{c} (r$rev)\n";
@@ -3764,13 +2908,13 @@ sub close_file {
 
 sub abort_edit {
 	my $self = shift;
-	close $self->{gui};
+	eval { command_close_pipe($self->{gui}, $self->{ctx}) };
 	$self->SUPER::abort_edit(@_);
 }
 
 sub close_edit {
 	my $self = shift;
-	close $self->{gui} or croak $!;
+	command_close_pipe($self->{gui}, $self->{ctx});
 	$self->{git_commit_ok} = 1;
 	$self->SUPER::close_edit(@_);
 }
@@ -3781,6 +2925,8 @@ package SVN::Git::Editor;
 use warnings;
 use Carp qw/croak/;
 use IO::File;
+use Git qw/command command_oneline command_noisy
+           command_output_pipe command_input_pipe command_close_pipe/;
 
 sub new {
 	my $class = shift;
@@ -3830,10 +2976,8 @@ sub rmdirs {
 	delete $rm->{''}; # we never delete the url we're tracking
 	return unless %$rm;
 
-	defined(my $pid = open my $fh,'-|') or croak $!;
-	if (!$pid) {
-		exec qw/git-ls-tree --name-only -r -z/, $self->{c} or croak $!;
-	}
+	my ($fh, $ctx) = command_output_pipe(
+	                           qw/ls-tree --name-only -r -z/, $self->{c});
 	local $/ = "\0";
 	while (<$fh>) {
 		chomp;
@@ -3842,11 +2986,11 @@ sub rmdirs {
 			delete $rm->{join '/', @dn};
 		}
 		unless (%$rm) {
-			close $fh;
+			eval { command_close_pipe($fh) };
 			return;
 		}
 	}
-	close $fh;
+	command_close_pipe($fh, $ctx);
 
 	my ($r, $p, $bat) = ($self->{r}, $self->{pool}, $self->{bat});
 	foreach my $d (sort { $b =~ tr#/#/# <=> $a =~ tr#/#/# } keys %$rm) {
@@ -4021,13 +3165,7 @@ sub abort_edit {
 
 Data structures:
 
-$svn_log hashref (as returned by svn_log_raw)
-{
-	fh => file handle of the log file,
-	state => state of the log file parser (sep/msg/rev/msg_start...)
-}
-
-$log_msg hashref as returned by next_log_entry($svn_log)
+$log_msg hashref as returned by libsvn_log_entry()
 {
 	msg => 'whitespace-formatted log entry
 ',						# trailing newline is preserved
@@ -4036,7 +3174,6 @@ sub abort_edit {
 	author => 'committer name'
 };
 
-
 @mods = array of diff-index line hashes, each element represents one line
 	of diff-index output
 
diff --git a/t/Makefile b/t/Makefile
index c9bd9a46905a1709668f6d37790cb2457940ac12..250a19019c1f494897c5e43437b93c3f6a80cace 100644
--- a/t/Makefile
+++ b/t/Makefile
@@ -23,13 +23,9 @@ clean:
 
 # we can test NO_OPTIMIZE_COMMITS independently of LC_ALL
 full-svn-test:
-	$(MAKE) $(TSVN) GIT_SVN_NO_LIB=0 GIT_SVN_DELTA_FETCH=1 \
-					GIT_SVN_NO_OPTIMIZE_COMMITS=1 LC_ALL=C
-	$(MAKE) $(TSVN) GIT_SVN_NO_LIB=1 GIT_SVN_NO_OPTIMIZE_COMMITS=1 LC_ALL=C
-	$(MAKE) $(TSVN) GIT_SVN_NO_LIB=1 GIT_SVN_NO_OPTIMIZE_COMMITS=0 \
-							LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8
-	$(MAKE) $(TSVN) GIT_SVN_NO_LIB=0 GIT_SVN_NO_OPTIMIZE_COMMITS=0 \
-							LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8
+	$(MAKE) $(TSVN) GIT_SVN_DELTA_FETCH=1 \
+				GIT_SVN_NO_OPTIMIZE_COMMITS=1 LC_ALL=C
+	$(MAKE) $(TSVN) GIT_SVN_NO_OPTIMIZE_COMMITS=0 LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8
 
 .PHONY: $(T) clean
 .NOTPARALLEL:
diff --git a/t/lib-git-svn.sh b/t/lib-git-svn.sh
index 63c670304f0241d93c8a1661080735ca4a14258a..99ada71349c7eaa0536bba1d622f7f7ffa56110e 100644
--- a/t/lib-git-svn.sh
+++ b/t/lib-git-svn.sh
@@ -7,17 +7,18 @@ then
 	exit
 fi
 
-GIT_DIR=$PWD/.git
-GIT_SVN_DIR=$GIT_DIR/svn/git-svn
-SVN_TREE=$GIT_SVN_DIR/svn-tree
-
-perl -e 'use SVN::Core' >/dev/null 2>&1
+perl -e 'use SVN::Core; $SVN::Core::VERSION gt "1.1.0" or die' >/dev/null 2>&1
 if test $? -ne 0
 then
-   echo 'Perl SVN libraries not found, tests requiring those will be skipped'
-   GIT_SVN_NO_LIB=1
+	test_expect_success 'Perl SVN libraries not found, skipping test' :
+	test_done
+	exit
 fi
 
+GIT_DIR=$PWD/.git
+GIT_SVN_DIR=$GIT_DIR/svn/git-svn
+SVN_TREE=$GIT_SVN_DIR/svn-tree
+
 svnadmin >/dev/null 2>&1
 if test $? -ne 1
 then
diff --git a/t/t9100-git-svn-basic.sh b/t/t9100-git-svn-basic.sh
index f9de2323669ac0db21be10a6699b00810565393c..0edf19e48d20bf03dc567a3be73a03892f143632 100755
--- a/t/t9100-git-svn-basic.sh
+++ b/t/t9100-git-svn-basic.sh
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ git update-index --add --remove dir/a/b/c/d/e/file dir/file file
 git commit -m "$name"
 
 test_expect_success "$name" \
-    "git-svn commit --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch &&
+    "git-svn set-tree --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch &&
      svn up $SVN_TREE &&
      test -d $SVN_TREE/dir && test ! -d $SVN_TREE/dir/a"
 
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ git update-index --add dir/file/file
 git commit -m "$name"
 
 test_expect_failure "$name" \
-    'git-svn commit --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch' \
+    'git-svn set-tree --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch' \
     || true
 
 
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ git update-index --add -- bar
 git commit -m "$name"
 
 test_expect_failure "$name" \
-    'git-svn commit --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch2' \
+    'git-svn set-tree --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch2' \
     || true
 
 
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ git-update-index --add bar/zzz/yyy
 git commit -m "$name"
 
 test_expect_failure "$name" \
-    'git-svn commit --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch3' \
+    'git-svn set-tree --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch3' \
     || true
 
 
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ git update-index --add -- dir
 git commit -m "$name"
 
 test_expect_failure "$name" \
-    'git-svn commit --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch4' \
+    'git-svn set-tree --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch4' \
     || true
 
 
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ git update-index exec.sh
 git commit -m "$name"
 
 test_expect_success "$name" \
-    "git-svn commit --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch5 &&
+    "git-svn set-tree --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch5 &&
      svn up $SVN_TREE &&
      test ! -x $SVN_TREE/exec.sh"
 
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ git update-index exec.sh
 git commit -m "$name"
 
 test_expect_success "$name" \
-    "git-svn commit --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch5 &&
+    "git-svn set-tree --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch5 &&
      svn up $SVN_TREE &&
      test -x $SVN_TREE/exec.sh"
 
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ then
 	git commit -m "$name"
 
 	test_expect_success "$name" \
-	    "git-svn commit --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch5 &&
+	    "git-svn set-tree --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch5 &&
 	     svn up $SVN_TREE &&
 	     test -L $SVN_TREE/exec.sh"
 
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ then
 	git commit -m "$name"
 
 	test_expect_success "$name" \
-	    "git-svn commit --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch5 &&
+	    "git-svn set-tree --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch5 &&
 	     svn up $SVN_TREE &&
 	     test -x $SVN_TREE/bar/zzz &&
 	     test -L $SVN_TREE/exec-2.sh"
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ then
 	git commit -m "$name"
 
 	test_expect_success "$name" \
-	    "git-svn commit --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch5 &&
+	    "git-svn set-tree --find-copies-harder --rmdir remotes/git-svn..mybranch5 &&
 	     svn up $SVN_TREE &&
 	     test -f $SVN_TREE/exec-2.sh &&
 	     test ! -L $SVN_TREE/exec-2.sh &&
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ then
 	git update-index exec-2.sh
 	git commit -m 'éï∏'
 	export LC_ALL="$GIT_SVN_LC_ALL"
-	test_expect_success "$name" "git-svn commit HEAD"
+	test_expect_success "$name" "git-svn set-tree HEAD"
 	unset LC_ALL
 else
 	echo "UTF-8 locale not set, test skipped ($GIT_SVN_LC_ALL)"
@@ -229,9 +229,7 @@ tree d667270a1f7b109f5eb3aaea21ede14b56bfdd6e
 tree 8f51f74cf0163afc9ad68a4b1537288c4558b5a4
 EOF
 
-if test -z "$GIT_SVN_NO_LIB" || test "$GIT_SVN_NO_LIB" -eq 0; then
-	echo tree 4b825dc642cb6eb9a060e54bf8d69288fbee4904 >> expected
-fi
+echo tree 4b825dc642cb6eb9a060e54bf8d69288fbee4904 >> expected
 
 test_expect_success "$name" "diff -u a expected"
 
diff --git a/t/t9101-git-svn-props.sh b/t/t9101-git-svn-props.sh
index a5a235f100709f503887e9a69c5b510e0b04534f..5543b07f16d54bb5aa6fab6ab9cde79837a3e68b 100755
--- a/t/t9101-git-svn-props.sh
+++ b/t/t9101-git-svn-props.sh
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ test_expect_success "$name" \
 	'git checkout -b mybranch remotes/git-svn &&
 	echo Hi again >> kw.c &&
 	git commit -a -m "test keywoards ignoring" &&
-	git-svn commit remotes/git-svn..mybranch &&
+	git-svn set-tree remotes/git-svn..mybranch &&
 	git pull . remotes/git-svn'
 
 expect='/* $Id$ */'
diff --git a/t/t9102-git-svn-deep-rmdir.sh b/t/t9102-git-svn-deep-rmdir.sh
index d693d183c8e41a4c1e948e690f42a55c985543b3..572aaedc06986505ff7b16b5553632051dfa2c58 100755
--- a/t/t9102-git-svn-deep-rmdir.sh
+++ b/t/t9102-git-svn-deep-rmdir.sh
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ test_expect_success 'mirror via git-svn' "
 test_expect_success 'Try a commit on rmdir' "
 	git rm -f deeply/nested/directory/number/2/another &&
 	git commit -a -m 'remove another' &&
-	git-svn commit --rmdir HEAD &&
+	git-svn set-tree --rmdir HEAD &&
 	svn ls -R $svnrepo | grep ^deeply/nested/directory/number/1
 	"
 
diff --git a/t/t9104-git-svn-follow-parent.sh b/t/t9104-git-svn-follow-parent.sh
index 01488ff78acd8324a04a3f0c5e4788e60148a704..8d2e2fec395a328f4bf6a65af3c7eba5a98cc133 100755
--- a/t/t9104-git-svn-follow-parent.sh
+++ b/t/t9104-git-svn-follow-parent.sh
@@ -6,13 +6,6 @@
 test_description='git-svn --follow-parent fetching'
 . ./lib-git-svn.sh
 
-if test -n "$GIT_SVN_NO_LIB" && test "$GIT_SVN_NO_LIB" -ne 0
-then
-	echo 'Skipping: --follow-parent needs SVN libraries'
-	test_done
-	exit 0
-fi
-
 test_expect_success 'initialize repo' "
 	mkdir import &&
 	cd import &&
diff --git a/t/t9105-git-svn-commit-diff.sh b/t/t9105-git-svn-commit-diff.sh
index 746c8277d06a7d9d147df16d6c16efce65bf34a2..6323c7e3ace0dda555ee67b384a197a26bf89dd6 100755
--- a/t/t9105-git-svn-commit-diff.sh
+++ b/t/t9105-git-svn-commit-diff.sh
@@ -4,13 +4,6 @@
 test_description='git-svn commit-diff'
 . ./lib-git-svn.sh
 
-if test -n "$GIT_SVN_NO_LIB" && test "$GIT_SVN_NO_LIB" -ne 0
-then
-	echo 'Skipping: commit-diff needs SVN libraries'
-	test_done
-	exit 0
-fi
-
 test_expect_success 'initialize repo' "
 	mkdir import &&
 	cd import &&
diff --git a/t/t9106-git-svn-commit-diff-clobber.sh b/t/t9106-git-svn-commit-diff-clobber.sh
index 58698b3f29966593d1f7063b04e8d07322636572..59b6425ce4e5a265443311b7ed033fe6e8e73add 100755
--- a/t/t9106-git-svn-commit-diff-clobber.sh
+++ b/t/t9106-git-svn-commit-diff-clobber.sh
@@ -4,13 +4,6 @@
 test_description='git-svn commit-diff clobber'
 . ./lib-git-svn.sh
 
-if test -n "$GIT_SVN_NO_LIB" && test "$GIT_SVN_NO_LIB" -ne 0
-then
-	echo 'Skipping: commit-diff clobber needs SVN libraries'
-	test_done
-	exit 0
-fi
-
 test_expect_success 'initialize repo' "
 	mkdir import &&
 	cd import &&