Index: arch/x86.lin.32.s
==================================================================
--- arch/x86.lin.32.s
+++ arch/x86.lin.32.s
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+; register order for syscall convention
+%define sys.reg.n 6
+%define sys.reg.ret eax
+%define sys.reg.0 eax
+%define sys.reg.1 ebx
+%define sys.reg.2 ecx
+%define sys.reg.3 edx
+%define sys.reg.4 esi
+%define sys.reg.5 edi
+
+%define sys.call int 0x80

Index: arch/x86.syscall.64.s
==================================================================
--- arch/x86.syscall.64.s
+++ arch/x86.syscall.64.s
@@ -27,14 +27,13 @@
 %define sys.call syscall
 
 ; register order for syscall convention
 %define sys.reg.n 7
 %define sys.reg.ret rax
-%define sys.reg.err rbx
 %define sys.reg.0 rax
 %define sys.reg.1 rdi
 %define sys.reg.2 rsi
 %define sys.reg.3 rdx
 %define sys.reg.4 r10
 %define sys.reg.5 r8
 %define sys.reg.6 r9
 

Index: build.sh
==================================================================
--- build.sh
+++ build.sh
@@ -68,11 +68,12 @@
 has m4 && _m4=m4
 m4=${m4:-$_m4}
 has nasm && asm=nasm
 has yasm && asm=yasm # prefer yasm
 export gen=${gen:-gen}
-library=${libkind:-static} # {static|shared|both}
+library=${library:-static} # {static|shared|both}
+export verbose=${verbose:-quiet} # {no|quiet|loud}
 
 doc=${doc:-yes}
 export doc_html=${doc_html:-yes}
 export doc_pdf=${doc_pdf:-yes}
 export doc_man=${doc_man:-yes}
@@ -133,24 +134,80 @@
 if test "$bits" != ""; then
 	macro_compile_env="$macro_compile_env -Datom_target_bits=$bits"
 fi
 
 
-comp_mac() { $m4 $macro_compile_env -I "$gen" $3 "$1" > "$2"; }
-comp_asm() { $asm "-f$bin_fmt" -i "$gen" $1 -o "$2"; }
+if test "$COLORTERM" != ""; then
+	announce() {
+		test "$verbose" = "silent" && return
+		color="$1" cmd="$2"; shift 2;
+		printf " → [38;5;$color;1m$cmd"
+		for a in "$@"; do
+			if test ${a:0:1} = "-"; then
+				printf " $a";
+			else
+				printf " $a";
+			fi
+		done
+		echo
+	}
+else
+	announce() { shift; echo " --> " $@; }
+fi
+
+# the following function is called to report a command invocation
+# the person compiling the library. the first argument should be
+# an ansi format string; this is used to color-code the tool being
+# launched and thus should be different for each one.
+report() { announce $@; shift; $@; }
+comp_mac() {
+	local src=$1
+	local output=$2
+	local flags=$3
+	if test -e "$output"; then
+		if test ! "$output" -ot "$src"; then
+			return
+		fi
+	fi
+	         $m4 $macro_compile_env -I "$gen" $flags "$src"  > "$output"
+	announce 207 $m4 $macro_compile_env -I "$gen" $flags "$src" \> "$output"
+	# yes, this is incredibly stupid. if you know a better way, feel
+	# free to submit a fix. the problem is there's no way to pass >
+	# to report in such a way that it'll do the right thing, and if
+	# you just write > it redirects *report's* output, instead of
+	# m4's. piece of shit that it is, m4 doesn't have any way to emit
+	# output into a fille - stdout only apparently. tl;dr i hate bash.
+}
+comp_asm() {
+	local src=$1
+	local output=$2
+	local flags=$3
+	if test -e "$output"; then
+		if test ! "$output" -ot "$src"; then
+			return
+		fi
+	fi
+	report 198 $asm $flags "-f$bin_fmt" -i "$gen" "$src" -o "$output";
+}
 comp_co()  { comp_c $1 $2 "-c -fPIC"; }
 comp_c(){
-	src=$1
-	output=$2
-	flags=$3
-	$cc $src $3 -std=c11 -isystem "$out" -isystem "$gen" -isystem "arch/" -nostdlib "-L$out" "-o$output"
+	local src=$1
+	local output=$2
+	local flags=$3
+	if test -e "$output"; then
+		if test ! "$output" -ot "$src"; then
+			return
+		fi
+	fi
+	# only rebuild the file if the source file is newer
+	report 213 $cc $src $3 -std=c11 -isystem "$out" -isystem "$gen" -isystem "arch/" -nostdlib "-L$out" "-o$output"
 }
 
 scan() { find "$1" -name "$2"; }
 
 say "commencing libk build $build at $(timestamp)"
-set -x
+# set -x
 
 # get type data
 mkdir -p $gen
 $cc -D_emit_m4_include arch/typesize.c -o $gen/typesize 
 $gen/typesize > gen/typesize.m
@@ -199,11 +256,11 @@
 	global/build-manpage.sh libk.md
 	for mod in ${modules[@]}; do
 		for doc in $(scan $mod '*.md'); do
 			base="$(basename $doc)"
 			stem="${base%%.md}"
-			global/build-manpage.sh "$doc"
+			report 177 global/build-manpage.sh "$doc"
 		done
 	done
 fi
 
 # third pass: compile sources and save the
@@ -247,18 +304,18 @@
 # fourth pass: link the libraries that are
 # configured to be built
 
 if test $build_static_library == yes; then
 	for obj in ${fn_objects[@]} ${rt_objects[@]} ${data_objects[@]}; do
-		ar rc $out/libk.a $obj
+		report 120 ar rc $out/libk.a $obj
 	done
-	ranlib $out/libk.a
+	report 105 ranlib $out/libk.a
 fi
 
 if test $build_shared_library == yes; then
-	ld -r ${rt_objects[@]} -o $out/boot.o
-	ld -shared ${fn_objects[@]} -o $out/libk.so
+	report 216 ld -r ${rt_objects[@]} -o $out/boot.o
+	report 216 ld -shared ${fn_objects[@]} -o $out/libk.so
 fi
 
 # fifth pass: compile the executable tools
 # against the libraries created in pass 5
 

Index: global/build-manpage.sh
==================================================================
--- global/build-manpage.sh
+++ global/build-manpage.sh
@@ -53,16 +53,18 @@
 tail -n+$(expr $descline + $offset) "$file"  | cmark -t man >> "$fmt"
 
 test "$doc_html" = "yes" && {
 	mkdir -p "$htmldest"
 	groff -Thtml -Kutf8 -m man "$fmt" > "$html"
+	test "$verbose" != "loud" ||
 	say "wrote html page for $stem to $html"
 }
 
 test "$doc_pdf" = "yes" && {
 	mkdir -p "$pdfdest"
 	groff -Tpdf  -Kutf8 -m man "$fmt" > "$pdf"
+	test "$verbose" != "loud" ||
 	say "wrote pdf for $stem to $pdf"
 }
 
 test "$doc_man" = "yes" && {
 	mkdir -p "$mandest"
@@ -72,7 +74,8 @@
 		gzip -c -f "$fmt" > "$man"
 	else
 		mv "$fmt" "$man"
 	fi
 
+	test "$verbose" != "loud" ||
 	say "wrote manpage for $stem to $man"
 }

DELETED kcore/exit.fn.x86.lin.32.s
Index: kcore/exit.fn.x86.lin.32.s
==================================================================
--- kcore/exit.fn.x86.lin.32.s
+++ kcore/exit.fn.x86.lin.32.s
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-bits 32
-%include "../arch/x86.lin.32.s"
-; vim: ft=nasm
-global kio_posix_exit
-
-kio_posix_exit:
-	mov sys.reg.0, sys.call.exit
-	mov sys.reg.1, [esp + 4] ; first C int argument
-	sys.call
-	; does not return

DELETED kcore/exit.fn.x86.lin.64.s
Index: kcore/exit.fn.x86.lin.64.s
==================================================================
--- kcore/exit.fn.x86.lin.64.s
+++ kcore/exit.fn.x86.lin.64.s
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-bits 64
-%include "../arch/x86.lin.64.s"
-%include "../arch/x86.cdecl.64.s"
-; vim: ft=nasm
-
-global kio_posix_exit:function
-kio_posix_exit:
-	mov sys.reg.1, ccall.reg.0 ;nop - rdi → rdi
-	mov sys.reg.0, sys.exit
-	sys.call
-	; no return

Index: kcore/syscall.fn.x86.lin.64.s
==================================================================
--- kcore/syscall.fn.x86.lin.64.s
+++ kcore/syscall.fn.x86.lin.64.s
@@ -51,23 +51,36 @@
 		handle_arg i
 		%assign i i+1
 	%endrep
 
 	; valency >= 7. this is not valid, so
-	; we set our return value to 0 and the
+	; we set our return value to -1 and the
 	; error number to its maximum value in
 	; order to indicate that the syscall
 	; was invalid
-	mov qword [rbx], 0
+	mov qword [rbx], -1
 	mov qword [r12], -1
 	ret
 
 	; we have a valency match - perform the
 	; requested syscall already store in rax
 	.perform_call: sys.call
+
+	; check for an error - on x86, error is
+	; returned as a negative value in %rax
+	test sys.reg.ret, sys.reg.ret
+	js .error ; jump if sign flag set
 	
 	; move our return values into place and
 	; return to the caller (which should
 	; always be k_platform_syscall, btw)
-	mov [rbx], sys.reg.ret
-	mov [r12], sys.reg.err
+	mov       [rbx], sys.reg.ret
+	mov qword [r12], 0 ; no error
 	ret
+
+	; an error was returned - we need to set
+	; the errno to its positive equivalent,
+	; and store -1 in the return variable
+	.error: neg sys.reg.ret
+	        mov qword [rbx], -1
+			mov       [r12], sys.reg.ret
+			ret

ADDED   legacy/exit.fn.x86.lin.32.s
Index: legacy/exit.fn.x86.lin.32.s
==================================================================
--- legacy/exit.fn.x86.lin.32.s
+++ legacy/exit.fn.x86.lin.32.s
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+bits 32
+%include "../arch/x86.lin.32.s"
+; vim: ft=nasm
+global kio_posix_exit
+
+kio_posix_exit:
+	mov sys.reg.0, sys.call.exit
+	mov sys.reg.1, [esp + 4] ; first C int argument
+	sys.call
+	; does not return

ADDED   legacy/exit.fn.x86.lin.64.s
Index: legacy/exit.fn.x86.lin.64.s
==================================================================
--- legacy/exit.fn.x86.lin.64.s
+++ legacy/exit.fn.x86.lin.64.s
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+bits 64
+%include "../arch/x86.lin.64.s"
+%include "../arch/x86.cdecl.64.s"
+; vim: ft=nasm
+
+global kio_posix_exit:function
+kio_posix_exit:
+	mov sys.reg.1, ccall.reg.0 ;nop - rdi → rdi
+	mov sys.reg.0, sys.exit
+	sys.call
+	; no return

Index: libk.md
==================================================================
--- libk.md
+++ libk.md
@@ -175,10 +175,11 @@
  * `asm=<autodetect> {executable}` - the assembler to assemble the assembly listings with. it must take Intel-syntax input and handle nasm-style macros. only `yasm` and `nasm` are likely to be viable.
  * `doc=yes {yes|no}` - whether to typeset the documentation (very slow with all three formats set to "yes")
  * `doc_html=yes {yes|no}` - enable or disable html output of the documentation
  * `doc_pdf=yes {yes|no}` - enable or disable pdf output of the documentation
  * `doc_man=yes {yes|no}` - enable or disable manpage output of the documentation
+ * `verbose=quiet {silent|quiet|loud}` - control level of verbosity. `silent` silences most output.
 
 two other shell scripts complete the build system:
  * `install.sh` - installs compiled libraries, objects, documentation, and headers into the appropriate directories.
 
 # design principles