diff --git a/make/defs.mk b/make/defs.mk
index 32e01a0a..8aff6ac4 100644
--- a/make/defs.mk
+++ b/make/defs.mk
@@ -36,14 +36,21 @@ BROWSER               ?= xdg-open
 RM                    := $(shell which rm)
 AR                     = /usr/bin/ar
 PWD                   := $(shell which pwd)
+CWD                   := $(shell $(PWD))
 BIN_INSTALL           := /usr/bin/install
 SUDO                  ?= /usr/bin/sudo
 
 # ----- standard variables
+ifneq ($(wildcard $(TOPDIR)/.git),)
+  VCS                 ?= git
+else ifneq ($(wildcard $(TOPDIR)/CVS),)
+  VCS                 ?= cvs
+endif
+
 CVSTOPDIR             ?= $(PROJECTS_DIR)/..
 
 ifeq ($(PROJECT),)
-  PROJECT             := $(patsubst $(FLAVOUR_PREFIX)%,%,$(notdir $(shell cd $(TOPDIR); $(PWD) | $(SED) 's/.*\///; s/-[0-9].*//')))
+  PROJECT             := $(patsubst $(FLAVOUR_PREFIX)%,%,$(notdir $(realpath $(TOPDIR))))
 endif
 
 GET_OS_SH             ?= /bin/bash $(MOD_SCRIPT_DIR)/get-os.sh
@@ -121,7 +128,13 @@ CVS_RSH               ?= /usr/bin/ssh
 # ----- input dirs
 JW_BUILD_DIR           = $(MODDIR)
 PROJECT_STEM           = $(PROJECT)-$(DIST_VERSION)
-CVS_ROOT_DIR           = $(shell test -d CVS && $(PWD) | $(SED) -e "s%`$(CAT) CVS/Repository`%%; s%/$$%%")
+
+# only works if checked out true to CVS, i.e. below proj
+ifeq ($(VCS),cvs)
+  CVS_MODULE           = $(shell $(SED) "s%/$$%%" CVS/Repository)
+  CVS_ROOT_DIR         = $(patsubst %/$(CVS_MODULE),%,$(CWD))
+endif
+
 REV_SUBDIRS            = $(shell echo $(SUBDIRS) | awk '{for (i=NF; i>=1; i--) printf ("%s ",$$i)}')
 FRESH_CVSDIR           = $(HOME)/local/src/cvs.fresh
 IMAGE_DIR             ?= $(CVS_ROOT_DIR)/images
@@ -172,7 +185,7 @@ BUILD_USER            := $(shell id -un)
 JANWARE_USER          ?= $(BUILD_USER)
 JANWARE_CLIENT        ?= jw
 JANWARE_WIKI          ?= $(JANWARE_CLIENT)
-JANWARE_URL_DOC_MODULE   ?= https://janware.com/wiki/$(JANWARE_WIKI)/assets/types/data/sw/$(PROJECT)/$(notdir $(shell $(PWD)))
+JANWARE_URL_DOC_MODULE   ?= https://janware.com/wiki/$(JANWARE_WIKI)/assets/types/data/sw/$(PROJECT)/$(notdir $(CWD))
 JANWARE_URL_DOC_PROJECT  ?= https://janware.com/wiki/$(JANWARE_WIKI)/assets/types/data/sw/$(PROJECT)/$(PROJECT)
 PKG_VENDOR            ?= janware GmbH
 
@@ -560,7 +573,7 @@ INSTALLED_IMG         ?= $(addprefix $(INSTALL_IMGDIR)/,$(IMAGES))
 # -- MO
 INSTALLATION_FILE_TYPES += MO
 BUILD_MO             ?= 
-BUILD_MODIR          ?= $(PWD)
+BUILD_MODIR          ?= $(CWD)
 INSTALL_MODIR        ?= $(ENV_PREFIX)/usr/share/locale/$(GETTEXT_LOCALE)/LC_MESSAGES
 INSTALLED_MO         ?= $(addprefix $(INSTALL_MODIR)/,$(wildcard *.mo))
 
@@ -771,7 +784,7 @@ else
 endif
 
 define install_links
-	cwd=`$(PWD)`; \
+	cwd="$(CWD)"; \
 		echo "o in $(INSTALL_$(1)DIR):" ;\
 		for f in $(notdir $(INSTALLED_$(1))); do  \
 			cd $(INSTALL_$(1)DIR); \