I think this should be a nice solution: bootstrap-<arch>-<os>-<the version i can bootstrap with this>.tar.gz This results in: bootstrap-386-linux-1.9.8.tar.gz containing a 1.0.10 version binary, for example. Please note i used "386" for <arch>, not x86, or something. So <arch> is always a valid ppc* ending. This eases up scripting.