diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index a84c9d1..e4c3de9 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 ##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##
 ##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##
-m4_define([v_maj], [0])
-m4_define([v_min], [6])
-m4_define([v_mic], [31])
+m4_define([v_maj], [m4_esyscmd_s([./util/gitdesc.sh major])])
+m4_define([v_min], [m4_esyscmd_s([./util/gitdesc.sh minor])])
+m4_define([v_mic],[m4_esyscmd_s([./util/gitdesc.sh micro])])
 ##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##--##
 m4_define([v_v], m4_join([], v_min, v_mic))
 m4_define([v_ver], [v_maj.v_v])
diff --git a/util/gitdesc.sh b/util/gitdesc.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..06f6aa8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/gitdesc.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+#?bin/sh
+# Peter Hyman, pete@peterhyman.com
+# December 2020
+
+# This program will return commit references based on Tags and Annotated Tags from git describe
+
+usage() {
+cat >&2  <<EOF
+$(basename $0) command [-r]
+all - entire git describe
+commit - commit, omitting v
+tagrev - tag revision count
+major - major release version
+ninor - minor release version
+micro - micro release version
+version - M.mic + [tag release count-HEAD commit]
+-r -- get release tag only
+EOF
+exit 1
+}
+
+# showw message and usage
+die() {
+	echo "$1"
+	usage
+}
+
+# return variables
+# everything, with leading `v' and leading `g' for commits
+describe_tag=
+# abbreviated commit
+commit=
+# count of commits from last tag
+tagrev=
+# major version
+major=
+# minor version
+minor=
+# micro version
+micro=
+# get release or tag?
+tagopt="--tags"
+
+# get whole commit and parse
+# if tagrev > 0 then add it and commit to micro version
+# Expected format is:
+# v#.###-g#######
+init() {
+	describe_tag=$(git describe $tagopt --long --abbrev=7)
+	describe_tag=${describe_tag/v/}
+	describe_tag=${describe_tag/g/}
+	commit=$(echo $describe_tag | cut -d- -f3)
+	tagrev=$(echo $describe_tag | cut -d- -f2)
+	version=$(echo $describe_tag | cut -d- -f1)
+	micro=${version: -2}
+	[ $tagrev -gt 0 ] && micro=$micro-$tagrev-$commit
+	minor=${version: -3:1}
+	major=$(echo $version | cut -d. -f1)
+}
+
+[ ! $(which git) ] && die "Something very wrong: git not found."
+
+[ $# -eq 0 ] && die "Must provide a command and optional argument."
+
+# are we getting a release only?
+if [ $# -eq 2 ]; then
+	if [ $2 = "-r" ]; then
+		tagopt=""
+	else
+		die "Invalid option. Must be -r or nothing."
+	fi
+fi
+
+init
+
+case "$1" in
+	"all" )
+		retval=$describe_tag
+		;;
+	"commit" )
+		retval=$commit
+		;;
+	"tagrev" )
+		retval=$tagrev
+		;;
+	"version" )
+		retval=$version
+		;;
+	"major" )
+		retval=$major
+		;;
+	"minor" )
+		retval=$minor
+		;;
+	"micro" )
+		retval=$micro
+		;;
+	* )
+		die "Invalid command."
+		;;
+esac
+
+echo $retval
+
+exit 0