diff -urN linux-2.6.5.old/kernel/Makefile linux-2.6.5/kernel/Makefile
--- linux-2.6.5.old/kernel/Makefile	2004-05-09 13:07:08.000000000 -0500
+++ linux-2.6.5/kernel/Makefile	2004-05-09 14:10:12.000000000 -0500
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 obj-$(CONFIG_COMPAT) += compat.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_IKCONFIG) += configs.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_IKCONFIG_PROC) += configs.o
+obj-$(CONFIG_IKPATCHES) += patches.o
+obj-$(CONFIG_IKPATCHES_PROC) += patches.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_STOP_MACHINE) += stop_machine.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_AUDIT) += audit.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_AUDITSYSCALL) += auditsc.o
@@ -62,3 +64,35 @@
 targets += config_data.h
 $(obj)/config_data.h: $(obj)/config_data.gz FORCE
 	$(call if_changed,ikconfiggz)
+
+
+
+# patches.o uses generated files - dependecies must be listed explicitly
+$(obj)/patches.o: $(obj)/ikpatches.h
+
+ifdef CONFIG_IKCONFIG_PROC
+$(obj)/patches.o: $(obj)/patches_data.h
+endif
+
+# ikpatches.h contains all the kernel's patches data - generated
+# from .patches. Info from ikpatches.h can be extracted from the 
+# kernel binary.
+
+quiet_cmd_ikpatches = IKCFG   $@
+      cmd_ikpatches = $(CONFIG_SHELL) $< .patches > $@
+
+targets += ikpatches.h
+$(obj)/ikpatches.h: scripts/mkpatches .patches FORCE
+	$(call if_changed,ikpatches)
+
+# patches_data.h contains the same information as ikpatches.h but gzipped.
+# Info from patches_data can be extracted from /proc/patches*
+targets += patches_data.gz
+$(obj)/patches_data.gz: .patches FORCE
+	$(call if_changed,gzip)
+
+quiet_cmd_ikpatchesgz = IKCFG   $@
+      cmd_ikpatchesgz = cat $< | scripts/bin2c kernel_patches_data > $@
+targets += patches_data.h
+$(obj)/patches_data.h: $(obj)/patches_data.gz FORCE
+	$(call if_changed,ikpatchesgz)
diff -urN linux-2.6.5.old/kernel/patches.c linux-2.6.5/kernel/patches.c
--- linux-2.6.5.old/kernel/patches.c	1969-12-31 19:00:00.000000000 -0500
+++ linux-2.6.5/kernel/patches.c	2004-05-09 13:49:07.000000000 -0500
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+/*
+ * kernel/patches.c
+ * Echo the kernel's .patches file present when building the kernel
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2004 Jon Oberheide <address@hidden>
+ * Copyright (C) 2002 Khalid Aziz <address@hidden>
+ * Copyright (C) 2002 Randy Dunlap <address@hidden>
+ * Copyright (C) 2002 Al Stone <address@hidden>
+ * Copyright (C) 2002 Hewlett-Packard Company
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at
+ * your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+ * WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, GOOD TITLE or
+ * NON INFRINGEMENT.  See the GNU General Public License for more
+ * details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
+ */
+
+#include <linux/config.h>
+#include <linux/kernel.h>
+#include <linux/module.h>
+#include <linux/proc_fs.h>
+#include <linux/seq_file.h>
+#include <linux/init.h>
+#include <asm/uaccess.h>
+
+/**************************************************/
+/* the actual current .patches file                 */
+
+/* This one is for extraction from the kernel binary file image. */
+#include "ikpatches.h"
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_IKPATCHES_PROC
+
+/* This is the data that can be read from /proc/patches.gz. */
+#include "patches_data.h"
+
+/**************************************************/
+/* globals and useful constants                   */
+
+static const char IKPATCHES_VERSION[] __initdata = "0.7";
+
+static ssize_t
+ikpatches_read_current(struct file *file, char __user *buf,
+		      size_t len, loff_t * offset)
+{
+	loff_t pos = *offset;
+	ssize_t count;
+
+	if (pos >= kernel_patches_data_size)
+		return 0;
+
+	count = min(len, (size_t)(kernel_patches_data_size - pos));
+	if(copy_to_user(buf, kernel_patches_data + pos, count))
+		return -EFAULT;
+
+	*offset += count;
+	return count;
+}
+
+static struct file_operations ikpatches_file_ops = {
+	.owner = THIS_MODULE,
+	.read = ikpatches_read_current,
+};
+
+/***************************************************/
+/* ikpatches_init: start up everything we need to */
+
+static int __init ikpatches_init(void)
+{
+	struct proc_dir_entry *entry;
+
+	/* create the current patches file */
+	entry = create_proc_entry("patches.gz", S_IFREG | S_IRUGO,
+				  &proc_root);
+	if (!entry)
+		return -ENOMEM;
+
+	entry->proc_fops = &ikpatches_file_ops;
+	entry->size = kernel_patches_data_size;
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/***************************************************/
+/* ikpatches_cleanup: clean up our mess           */
+
+static void __exit ikpatches_cleanup(void)
+{
+	remove_proc_entry("patches.gz", &proc_root);
+}
+
+module_init(ikpatches_init);
+module_exit(ikpatches_cleanup);
+
+MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
+MODULE_AUTHOR("Jon Oberheide");
+MODULE_DESCRIPTION("Echo the kernel's .patches file present while building the kernel");
+
+#endif /* CONFIG_IKPATCHES_PROC */