diff --git a/Doc/tools/mkhowto.sh b/Doc/tools/mkhowto.sh
index 69b9b4df55d..6fa83b2006a 100755
--- a/Doc/tools/mkhowto.sh
+++ b/Doc/tools/mkhowto.sh
@@ -22,10 +22,12 @@ DISCARD_TEMPS=true
 
 ICONSERVER=''
 
-L2H_INIT_FILE=$TOPDIR/perl/l2hinit.perl
-L2H_AUX_INIT_FILE=/usr/tmp/mkhowto-$LOGNAME-$$.perl
+TEMPBASE=mkhowto-$LOGNAME-$$
 
-LOGFILE=/usr/tmp/mkhowto-$LOGNAME-$$.how
+L2H_INIT_FILE=$TOPDIR/perl/l2hinit.perl
+L2H_AUX_INIT_FILE=/usr/tmp/$TEMPBASE.perl
+
+LOGFILE=/usr/tmp/$TEMPBASE.how
 LOGGING=''
 
 usage() {
@@ -160,9 +162,23 @@ cleanup() {
     rm -f $1/IMG* $1/*.pl $1/WARNINGS $1/index.dat $1/modindex.dat
 }
 
+parse_option() {
+    # When using a long option with a parameter separated by '=',
+    # generalize the parsing of the two:
+    OPTION="$1"
+    unset VALUE
+    STUFF=`echo "$1" | grep '^--[-a-zA-Z0-9]*='`
+    if [ "$STUFF" ] ; then
+	# This leaves OPTION=--option= and VALUE=value
+	OPTION=`echo "$STUFF" | sed 's/^\(--[-a-zA-Z0-9]*=\)\(.*\)$/\1/'`
+	VALUE=`echo "$STUFF" | sed 's/^\(--[-a-zA-Z0-9]*=\)\(.*\)$/\2/'`
+    fi
+}
+
 # figure out what our targets are:
 while [ "$1" ] ; do
-    case "$1" in
+    parse_option "$1"
+    case "$OPTION" in
 	--all|--al)
 	    BUILD_PDF=true
 	    BUILD_PS=true
@@ -204,10 +220,18 @@ while [ "$1" ] ; do
 	    ICONSERVER="$2"
 	    shift 2
 	    ;;
+	--iconserver=*|--iconserve=*|--iconserv=*|--iconser=*|--iconse=*|--icons=*|--icon=*|--ico=*|--ic=*|--i=*)
+	    ICONSERVER="$VALUE"
+	    shift 1
+	    ;;
 	-a|--address|--addres|--addre|-addr|--add|--ad)
 	    ADDRESS="$2"
 	    shift 2
 	    ;;
+	--address=*|--addres=*|--addre=*|-addr=*|--add=*|--ad=*)
+	    ADDRESS="$VALUE"
+	    shift 1
+	    ;;
 	--a4)
 	    TEXINPUTS=$TOPDIR/paper-a4:$TEXINPUTS
 	    shift 1
@@ -219,10 +243,18 @@ while [ "$1" ] ; do
 	    LINK="$2"
 	    shift 2
 	    ;;
+	--link=*|--lin=*|--li=*)
+	    LINK="$VALUE"
+	    shift 1
+	    ;;
 	-s|--split|--spli|--spl|--sp|--s)
 	    MAX_SPLIT_DEPTH="$2"
 	    shift 2
 	    ;;
+	--split=|--spli=|--spl=|--sp=|--s=)
+	    MAX_SPLIT_DEPTH="$VALUE"
+	    shift 1
+	    ;;
 	-l|--logging|--loggin|--loggi|--logg|--log|--lo)
 	    LOGGING=true
 	    shift 1
@@ -244,7 +276,7 @@ while [ "$1" ] ; do
 	    break
 	    ;;
 	-*)
-	    usage 2
+	    usage 2 "Unknown option: ${VALUE%=}"
 	    ;;
 	*)
 	    break;;
@@ -277,6 +309,9 @@ fi
 
 echo '# auxillary init file for latex2html' >$L2H_AUX_INIT_FILE
 echo '# generated by mkhowto.sh -- do no edit' >>$L2H_AUX_INIT_FILE
+if [ "$ICONSERVER" ] ; then
+    ICONSERVER="${ICONSERVER%/}"
+fi
 l2hoption ICONSERVER "$ICONSERVER"
 l2hoption ADDRESS "$ADDRESS"
 l2hoption MAX_LINK_DEPTH "$MAX_LINK_DEPTH"
@@ -285,7 +320,7 @@ echo '1;' >>$L2H_AUX_INIT_FILE
 
 for FILE in $@ ; do
     FILEDIR=`dirname $FILE`
-    FILE=`basename ${FILE%.tex}`
+    FILE=`basename $FILE .tex`
     #
     # Put the directory the .tex file is in is also the first directory in
     # TEXINPUTS, to allow files there to override files in the common area.