Index: kitsh/buildsrc/kitsh-0.0/boot.tcl
==================================================================
--- kitsh/buildsrc/kitsh-0.0/boot.tcl
+++ kitsh/buildsrc/kitsh-0.0/boot.tcl
@@ -87,15 +87,21 @@
 			encoding dirs [list [file join [info library] encoding]] ;# TIP 258
 		}
 
 		# fix system encoding, if it wasn't properly set up (200207.004 bug)
 		if {[encoding system] eq "identity"} {
-			switch $::tcl_platform(platform) {
-				windows		{ encoding system cp1252 }
-				macintosh	{ encoding system macRoman }
-			        default		{ encoding system iso8859-1 }
+			if {[info exists ::tclkit_system_encoding] && $::tclkit_system_encoding != ""} {
+				encoding system $::tclkit_system_encoding
+			} else {
+				switch $::tcl_platform(platform) {
+					windows		{ encoding system cp1252 }
+					macintosh	{ encoding system macRoman }
+				        default		{ encoding system iso8859-1 }
+				}
 			}
+
+			unset -nocomplain ::tclkit_system_encoding
 		}
 
 		# now remount the executable with the correct encoding
 		vfs::filesystem unmount [lindex [::vfs::filesystem info] 0]
 

Index: kitsh/buildsrc/kitsh-0.0/configure.ac
==================================================================
--- kitsh/buildsrc/kitsh-0.0/configure.ac
+++ kitsh/buildsrc/kitsh-0.0/configure.ac
@@ -30,14 +30,17 @@
 dnl If we found the resource compiler, add "kit.res.o" to our list of objects to build
 if ! test "$RC" = "false"; then
 	EXTRA_OBJS="$EXTRA_OBJS kit.res.o"
 fi
 
-dnl Determine if we have "Tcl_SetStartupScript" (8.6.x) or "TclSetStartupScriptPath" (8.4.x)
+dnl Check for Tcl features
 SAVE_LIBS="${LIBS}"
 LIBS="${ARCHS} ${LIBS}"
+dnl Determine if we have "Tcl_SetStartupScript" (8.6.x) or "TclSetStartupScriptPath" (8.4.x)
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(Tcl_SetStartupScript TclSetStartupScriptPath)
+dnl Check for the ability to get the current system encoding
+AC_CHECK_FUNCS(Tcl_GetEncodingNameFromEnvironment Tcl_SetSystemEncoding)
 LIBS="${SAVE_LIBS}"
 
 dnl Find zlib
 AC_ARG_WITH(zlib, AC_HELP_STRING([--with-zlib], [directory containing zlib]), [
 	CPPFLAGS="${CPPFLAGS} -I${with_zlib}/include -I${with_zlib}"

Index: kitsh/buildsrc/kitsh-0.0/kitInit.c
==================================================================
--- kitsh/buildsrc/kitsh-0.0/kitInit.c
+++ kitsh/buildsrc/kitsh-0.0/kitInit.c
@@ -30,22 +30,32 @@
 #ifndef MB_TASKMODAL
 #  define MB_TASKMODAL 0
 #endif /* MB_TASKMODAL */
 
 #include "tclInt.h"
+
+#if defined(HAVE_TCL_GETENCODINGNAMEFROMENVIRONMENT) && defined(HAVE_TCL_SETSYSTEMENCODING)
+#  define TCLKIT_CAN_SET_ENCODING 1
+#endif
+#if 10 * TCL_MAJOR_VERSION + TCL_MINOR_VERSION < 85
+#  define KIT_INCLUDES_PWB 1
+#endif
+#if 10 * TCL_MAJOR_VERSION + TCL_MINOR_VERSION < 86
+#  define KIT_INCLUDES_ZLIB 1
+#endif
 
 #ifdef KIT_INCLUDES_ITCL
 Tcl_AppInitProc	Itcl_Init;
 #endif
 #ifdef KIT_INCLUDES_MK4TCL
 Tcl_AppInitProc	Mk4tcl_Init;
 #endif
 Tcl_AppInitProc Vfs_Init, Rechan_Init;
-#if 10 * TCL_MAJOR_VERSION + TCL_MINOR_VERSION < 85
+#ifdef KIT_INCLUDES_PWB
 Tcl_AppInitProc	Pwb_Init;
 #endif
-#if 10 * TCL_MAJOR_VERSION + TCL_MINOR_VERSION < 86
+#ifdef KIT_INCLUDES_ZLIB
 Tcl_AppInitProc Zlib_Init;
 #endif
 #ifdef TCL_THREADS
 Tcl_AppInitProc	Thread_Init;
 #endif
@@ -162,22 +172,26 @@
 		tclExecutableName = strdup(Tcl_GetStringFromObj(execNameObj, &len));
 	}
 }
 
 int TclKit_AppInit(Tcl_Interp *interp) {
+#ifdef TCLKIT_CAN_SET_ENCODING
+	Tcl_DString encodingName;
+#endif
+
 #ifdef KIT_INCLUDES_ITCL
 	Tcl_StaticPackage(0, "Itcl", Itcl_Init, NULL);
 #endif 
 #ifdef KIT_INCLUDES_MK4TCL
 	Tcl_StaticPackage(0, "Mk4tcl", Mk4tcl_Init, NULL);
 #endif
-#if 10 * TCL_MAJOR_VERSION + TCL_MINOR_VERSION < 85
+#ifdef KIT_INCLUDES_PWB
 	Tcl_StaticPackage(0, "pwb", Pwb_Init, NULL);
 #endif 
 	Tcl_StaticPackage(0, "rechan", Rechan_Init, NULL);
 	Tcl_StaticPackage(0, "vfs", Vfs_Init, NULL);
-#if 10 * TCL_MAJOR_VERSION + TCL_MINOR_VERSION < 86
+#ifdef KIT_INCLUDES_ZLIB
 	Tcl_StaticPackage(0, "zlib", Zlib_Init, NULL);
 #endif
 #ifdef TCL_THREADS
 	Tcl_StaticPackage(0, "Thread", Thread_Init, NULL);
 #endif
@@ -193,10 +207,18 @@
 #ifdef _WIN32
 	Tcl_SetVar(interp, "tcl_rcFileName", "~/tclkitrc.tcl", TCL_GLOBAL_ONLY);
 #else
 	Tcl_SetVar(interp, "tcl_rcFileName", "~/.tclkitrc", TCL_GLOBAL_ONLY);
 #endif
+
+#ifdef TCLKIT_CAN_SET_ENCODING
+	/* Set the encoding from the Environment */
+	Tcl_GetEncodingNameFromEnvironment(&encodingName);
+	Tcl_SetSystemEncoding(NULL, Tcl_DStringValue(&encodingName));
+	Tcl_SetVar(interp, "tclkit_system_encoding", Tcl_DStringValue(&encodingName), 0);
+	Tcl_DStringFree(&encodingName);
+#endif
 
 	/* Hack to get around Tcl bug 1224888.  This must be run here and
 	 * in LibraryPathObjCmd because this information is needed both
 	 * before and after that command is run. */
 	SetExecName(interp);