diff -Nur coreutils-5.2.1.orig/THANKS coreutils-5.2.1/THANKS
--- coreutils-5.2.1.orig/THANKS	2004-03-10 18:52:58.000000000 +0100
+++ coreutils-5.2.1/THANKS	2004-08-25 15:55:21.000000000 +0200
@@ -408,6 +408,7 @@
 Theodore Ts'o                       address@hidden
 Thomas Bushnell                     address@hidden
 Thomas Goerlich                     address@hidden
+Thomas Habets                       address@hidden
 Thomas Luzat                        address@hidden
 Thomas Quinot                       address@hidden
 Tim J. Robbins                      address@hidden
diff -Nur coreutils-5.2.1.orig/man/sort.1 coreutils-5.2.1/man/sort.1
--- coreutils-5.2.1.orig/man/sort.1	2004-03-02 23:52:31.000000000 +0100
+++ coreutils-5.2.1/man/sort.1	2004-08-25 15:57:03.000000000 +0200
@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@
 .TP
 \fB\-r\fR, \fB\-\-reverse\fR
 reverse the result of comparisons
+.TP
+\fB\-R\fR, \fB\-\-random\fR
+randomize the result of comparisons
 .PP
 Other options:
 .TP
diff -Nur coreutils-5.2.1.orig/src/sort.c coreutils-5.2.1/src/sort.c
--- coreutils-5.2.1.orig/src/sort.c	2004-02-17 11:47:35.000000000 +0100
+++ coreutils-5.2.1/src/sort.c	2004-08-25 15:59:08.000000000 +0200
@@ -157,6 +157,7 @@
 				   Handle numbers in exponential notation. */
   bool month;			/* Flag for comparison by month name. */
   bool reverse;			/* Reverse the sense of comparison. */
+  bool random;                  /* randomize order  */
   struct keyfield *next;	/* Next keyfield to try. */
 };
 
@@ -240,6 +241,9 @@
 /* Flag to reverse the order of all comparisons. */
 static bool reverse;
 
+/* */
+static bool randomsort;
+
 /* Flag for stable sort.  This turns off the last ditch bytewise
    comparison of lines, and instead leaves lines in the same order
    they were read if all keys compare equal.  */
@@ -297,6 +301,7 @@
   -M, --month-sort            compare (unknown) < `JAN' < ... < `DEC'\n\
   -n, --numeric-sort          compare according to string numerical value\n\
   -r, --reverse               reverse the result of comparisons\n\
+  -R, --random                randomize order\n\
 \n\
 "), stdout);
       fputs (_("\
@@ -346,7 +351,7 @@
   exit (status);
 }
 
-#define COMMON_SHORT_OPTIONS "-bcdfgik:mMno:rsS:t:T:uz"
+#define COMMON_SHORT_OPTIONS "-bcdfgik:mMno:rRsS:t:T:uz"
 
 static struct option const long_options[] =
 {
@@ -362,6 +367,7 @@
   {"numeric-sort", no_argument, NULL, 'n'},
   {"output", required_argument, NULL, 'o'},
   {"reverse", no_argument, NULL, 'r'},
+  {"random", no_argument, NULL, 'R'},
   {"stable", no_argument, NULL, 's'},
   {"buffer-size", required_argument, NULL, 'S'},
   {"field-separator", required_argument, NULL, 't'},
@@ -1349,6 +1355,11 @@
 
   int diff;
 
+  if (key->random)
+    {
+      return rand()%2 ? -1 : 1;
+    }
+
   for (;;)
     {
       register char const *translate = key->translate;
@@ -1516,6 +1527,11 @@
   int diff;
   size_t alen, blen;
 
+  if (randomsort)
+    {
+      return rand()%2 ? -1 : 1;
+    }
+
   /* First try to compare on the specified keys (if any).
      The only two cases with no key at all are unadorned sort,
      and unadorned sort -r. */
@@ -2192,6 +2208,10 @@
 	case 'r':
 	  key->reverse = true;
 	  break;
+	case 'R':
+	  srand(time(NULL));
+	  key->random = true;
+	  break;
 	default:
 	  return (char *) s;
 	}
@@ -2301,7 +2321,7 @@
   gkey.ignore = NULL;
   gkey.translate = NULL;
   gkey.numeric = gkey.general_numeric = gkey.month = gkey.reverse = false;
-  gkey.skipsblanks = gkey.skipeblanks = false;
+  gkey.random = gkey.skipsblanks = gkey.skipeblanks = false;
 
   files = xnmalloc (argc, sizeof *files);
 
@@ -2376,6 +2396,7 @@
 	case 'M':
 	case 'n':
 	case 'r':
+	case 'R':
 	  {
 	    char str[2];
 	    str[0] = c;
@@ -2515,7 +2536,7 @@
   /* Inheritance of global options to individual keys. */
   for (key = keylist; key; key = key->next)
     if (! (key->ignore || key->translate
-	   || (key->skipsblanks | key->reverse
+	   || (key->skipsblanks | key->reverse | key->random
 	       | key->skipeblanks | key->month | key->numeric
 	       | key->general_numeric)))
       {
@@ -2527,6 +2548,7 @@
 	key->numeric = gkey.numeric;
 	key->general_numeric = gkey.general_numeric;
 	key->reverse = gkey.reverse;
+	key->random = gkey.random;
       }
 
   if (!keylist && (gkey.ignore || gkey.translate
@@ -2534,6 +2556,7 @@
 		       | gkey.numeric | gkey.general_numeric)))
     insertkey (&gkey);
   reverse = gkey.reverse;
+  randomsort = gkey.random;
 
   if (temp_dir_count == 0)
     {