diff -bur t/coreutils-5.2.1/src/sort.c coreutils-5.2.1/src/sort.c
--- t/coreutils-5.2.1/src/sort.c	2004-02-17 11:47:35.000000000 +0100
+++ coreutils-5.2.1/src/sort.c	2004-08-27 23:46:56.000000000 +0200
@@ -155,6 +155,8 @@
 				   point, but no exponential notation. */
   bool general_numeric;		/* Flag for general, numeric comparison.
 				   Handle numbers in exponential notation. */
+  bool human_readable;		/* Flag for human-readable suffixes in
+					numerical values */
   bool month;			/* Flag for comparison by month name. */
   bool reverse;			/* Reverse the sense of comparison. */
   struct keyfield *next;	/* Next keyfield to try. */
@@ -207,6 +209,9 @@
   {"SEP", 9}
 };
 
+/* Table of human readable suffixes.  */
+static char hr_suffixes[UCHAR_LIM];
+
 /* During the merge phase, the number of files to merge at once. */
 #define NMERGE 16
 
@@ -293,6 +298,7 @@
 "), stdout);
       fputs (_("\
   -g, --general-numeric-sort  compare according to general numerical value\n\
+  -h, --human-readable        compare human-readable numerical values\n\n\
   -i, --ignore-nonprinting    consider only printable characters\n\
   -M, --month-sort            compare (unknown) < `JAN' < ... < `DEC'\n\
   -n, --numeric-sort          compare according to string numerical value\n\
@@ -346,7 +352,7 @@
   exit (status);
 }
 
-#define COMMON_SHORT_OPTIONS "-bcdfgik:mMno:rsS:t:T:uz"
+#define COMMON_SHORT_OPTIONS "-bcdfghik:mMno:rsS:t:T:uz"
 
 static struct option const long_options[] =
 {
@@ -355,6 +361,7 @@
   {"dictionary-order", no_argument, NULL, 'd'},
   {"ignore-case", no_argument, NULL, 'f'},
   {"general-numeric-sort", no_argument, NULL, 'g'},
+  {"human-readable", no_argument, NULL, 'h'},
   {"ignore-nonprinting", no_argument, NULL, 'i'},
   {"key", required_argument, NULL, 'k'},
   {"merge", no_argument, NULL, 'm'},
@@ -546,7 +553,17 @@
       nonprinting[i] = !ISPRINT (i);
       nondictionary[i] = !ISALNUM (i) && !ISBLANK (i);
       fold_toupper[i] = (ISLOWER (i) ? toupper (i) : i);
+      hr_suffixes[i] = 0;
     }
+  hr_suffixes['K'] = 1;
+  hr_suffixes['k'] = 1;
+  hr_suffixes['M'] = 2;
+  hr_suffixes['G'] = 3;
+  hr_suffixes['T'] = 4;
+  hr_suffixes['P'] = 5;
+  hr_suffixes['E'] = 6;
+  hr_suffixes['Z'] = 7;
+  hr_suffixes['Y'] = 8;
 
 #if HAVE_NL_LANGINFO
   /* If we're not in the "C" locale, read different names for months.  */
@@ -1261,6 +1278,40 @@
     }
 }
 
+/* Compare strings A and B as numbers suffixed with human-readable
+   suffixes.*/
+
+static int
+human_readable_compare (register const char *a, register const char *b)
+{
+  register int tmpa, tmpb;
+  const char * savea = a, * saveb = b;
+
+  tmpa = *a;
+  tmpb = *b;
+
+  while (blanks[UCHAR (tmpa)])
+    tmpa = *++a;
+  while (blanks[UCHAR (tmpb)])
+    tmpb = *++b;
+
+  while (tmpa == NEGATION_SIGN)
+    tmpa = *++a;
+
+  while (tmpb == NEGATION_SIGN)
+    tmpb = *++b;
+  
+  while (IS_THOUSANDS_SEP(tmpa) || ISDIGIT(tmpa) || tmpa == decimal_point)
+    tmpa = *++a;
+  while (IS_THOUSANDS_SEP(tmpb) || ISDIGIT(tmpb) || tmpb == decimal_point)
+    tmpb = *++b;
+
+  if (hr_suffixes[tmpa] != hr_suffixes[tmpb])
+    return hr_suffixes[tmpa] < hr_suffixes[tmpb] ? -1 : 1;
+  else
+    return numcompare(savea, saveb);
+}
+
 static int
 general_numcompare (const char *sa, const char *sb)
 {
@@ -1374,6 +1425,14 @@
 		  (texta, textb));
 	  *lima = savea, *limb = saveb;
 	}
+      else if (key->human_readable)
+        {
+	  char savea = *lima, saveb = *limb;
+
+	  *lima = *limb = '\0';
+	  diff = human_readable_compare(texta, textb);
+	  *lima = savea, *limb = saveb;
+	}
       else if (key->month)
 	diff = getmonth (texta, lena) - getmonth (textb, lenb);
       /* Sorting like this may become slow, so in a simple locale the user
@@ -2177,6 +2236,9 @@
 	case 'g':
 	  key->general_numeric = true;
 	  break;
+	case 'h':
+	  key->human_readable = true;
+	  break;
 	case 'i':
 	  /* Option order should not matter, so don't let -i override
 	     -d.  -d implies -i, but -i does not imply -d.  */
@@ -2301,7 +2363,7 @@
   gkey.ignore = NULL;
   gkey.translate = NULL;
   gkey.numeric = gkey.general_numeric = gkey.month = gkey.reverse = false;
-  gkey.skipsblanks = gkey.skipeblanks = false;
+  gkey.skipsblanks = gkey.skipeblanks = gkey.human_readable = false;
 
   files = xnmalloc (argc, sizeof *files);
 
@@ -2372,6 +2434,7 @@
 	case 'd':
 	case 'f':
 	case 'g':
+	case 'h':
 	case 'i':
 	case 'M':
 	case 'n':
@@ -2517,7 +2580,7 @@
     if (! (key->ignore || key->translate
 	   || (key->skipsblanks | key->reverse
 	       | key->skipeblanks | key->month | key->numeric
-	       | key->general_numeric)))
+	       | key->general_numeric | key->human_readable)))
       {
 	key->ignore = gkey.ignore;
 	key->translate = gkey.translate;
@@ -2526,12 +2589,14 @@
 	key->month = gkey.month;
 	key->numeric = gkey.numeric;
 	key->general_numeric = gkey.general_numeric;
+	key->human_readable = gkey.human_readable;
 	key->reverse = gkey.reverse;
       }
 
   if (!keylist && (gkey.ignore || gkey.translate
 		   || (gkey.skipsblanks | gkey.skipeblanks | gkey.month
-		       | gkey.numeric | gkey.general_numeric)))
+		       | gkey.numeric | gkey.general_numeric
+		       | gkey.human_readable)))
     insertkey (&gkey);
   reverse = gkey.reverse;