diff --git a/Mesh_2/GNUmakefile b/Mesh_2/GNUmakefile
index cb7c7497331..e602f9d1c3e 100644
--- a/Mesh_2/GNUmakefile
+++ b/Mesh_2/GNUmakefile
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 all: run-test examples demo
 
 run-test:
+	${MAKE} -C examples/Mesh_2 run
 	${MAKE} -C test/Mesh_2 run
 
 test:
diff --git a/Mesh_2/demo/Mesh_2/GNUmakefile b/Mesh_2/demo/Mesh_2/GNUmakefile
index 909a50b038f..135bc81c552 100644
--- a/Mesh_2/demo/Mesh_2/GNUmakefile
+++ b/Mesh_2/demo/Mesh_2/GNUmakefile
@@ -1,5 +1,21 @@
 include makefile
-include depends
+
+#---------------------------------------------------------------------#
+#
+#                        dependencies
+#
+#      if you want deps, create a file my_makefile that contains
+#      -include depends
+#
+#---------------------------------------------------------------------#
+
+-include my_makefile
+
+dep:
+	rm depends; $(MAKE) depends
+
+.PHONY: dep
+
 
 depends: *.C
 	cat /dev/null > depends
diff --git a/Mesh_2/examples/Mesh_2/GNUmakefile b/Mesh_2/examples/Mesh_2/GNUmakefile
index 909a50b038f..c0503d40972 100644
--- a/Mesh_2/examples/Mesh_2/GNUmakefile
+++ b/Mesh_2/examples/Mesh_2/GNUmakefile
@@ -1,5 +1,20 @@
 include makefile
-include depends
+
+#---------------------------------------------------------------------#
+#
+#                        dependencies
+#
+#      if you want deps, create a file my_makefile that contains
+#      -include depends
+#
+#---------------------------------------------------------------------#
+
+-include my_makefile
+
+dep:
+	rm -f depends; $(MAKE) depends
+
+.PHONY: dep
 
 depends: *.C
 	cat /dev/null > depends
@@ -10,3 +25,9 @@ depends: *.C
 	  $(CGAL_CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -M -MG $$f \
 	     | grep '\.\./\.\..*/include/CGAL' >> depends; \
 	done
+
+run: all
+	./conforming
+	./mesh_class
+	./mesh_global
+	./mesh_with_seeds
diff --git a/Mesh_3/GNUmakefile b/Mesh_3/GNUmakefile
index ea35bab8932..033b9c91892 100644
--- a/Mesh_3/GNUmakefile
+++ b/Mesh_3/GNUmakefile
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@ dist-clean: clean
 
 # make update: update the working directory
 update:
-	@cvs -q update -d -P
+	@svn -q update
 
-# make diff: diff between the cvs repository and the working copy
+# make diff: diff between the svn repository and the working copy
 diff:
-	@cvs -q diff -u | less
+	@svn -q diff | less
diff --git a/Mesh_3/examples/Mesh_3/GNUmakefile b/Mesh_3/examples/Mesh_3/GNUmakefile
index d67c9d075bc..f2b43c42ca7 100644
--- a/Mesh_3/examples/Mesh_3/GNUmakefile
+++ b/Mesh_3/examples/Mesh_3/GNUmakefile
@@ -1,15 +1,22 @@
 include makefile
 
-ifneq ($(wildcard my_makefile), )
-  include my_makefile
-endif
+#---------------------------------------------------------------------#
+#
+#                        dependencies
+#
+#      if you want deps, create a file my_makefile that contains
+#      -include depends
+#
+#---------------------------------------------------------------------#
+
+-include my_makefile
 
 dep:
-	$(MAKE) depends
+	rm depends; $(MAKE) depends
 
 .PHONY: dep
 
-depends:
+depends: *.C
 	cat /dev/null > depends
 	for f in *.C; do \
 	  echo >> depends; \
diff --git a/Mesh_3/test/Mesh_3/GNUmakefile b/Mesh_3/test/Mesh_3/GNUmakefile
index 97e8db70f96..a8366b61c39 100644
--- a/Mesh_3/test/Mesh_3/GNUmakefile
+++ b/Mesh_3/test/Mesh_3/GNUmakefile
@@ -9,12 +9,6 @@
 # CGAL_MAKEFILE = ENTER_YOUR_INCLUDE_MAKEFILE_HERE
 include $(CGAL_MAKEFILE)
 
-
-
-ifneq ($(wildcard my_makefile), )
-  include my_makefile
-endif
-
 #---------------------------------------------------------------------#
 #                    compiler flags
 #---------------------------------------------------------------------#
@@ -98,3 +92,29 @@ clean: \
 .C$(OBJ_EXT):
 	$(CGAL_CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) $(OBJ_OPT) $<
 
+#---------------------------------------------------------------------#
+#
+#                        dependencies
+#
+#      if you want deps, create a file my_makefile that contains
+#      -include depends
+#
+#---------------------------------------------------------------------#
+
+-include my_makefile
+
+dep:
+	rm depends; $(MAKE) depends
+
+.PHONY: dep
+
+depends: *.C
+	cat /dev/null > depends
+	for f in *.C; do \
+	  echo >> depends; \
+	  echo >> depends; \
+	  echo "$${f%.C}$(OBJ_EXT): \\" >> depends; \
+	  $(CGAL_CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -M -MG $$f \
+	     | grep '\.\./\.\..*/include/CGAL' >> depends; \
+	done; \
+	test -f depends
diff --git a/Surface_mesher/examples/Surface_mesher/GNUmakefile b/Surface_mesher/examples/Surface_mesher/GNUmakefile
index 7f485ffbf49..e8d760ff1d5 100644
--- a/Surface_mesher/examples/Surface_mesher/GNUmakefile
+++ b/Surface_mesher/examples/Surface_mesher/GNUmakefile
@@ -1,9 +1,18 @@
 include makefile
 
+#---------------------------------------------------------------------#
+#
+#                        dependencies
+#
+#      if you want deps, create a file my_makefile that contains
+#      -include depends
+#
+#---------------------------------------------------------------------#
+
 -include my_makefile
 
 dep:
-	$(MAKE) depends
+	rm -f depends; $(MAKE) depends
 
 .PHONY: dep
 
diff --git a/Surface_mesher/test/Surface_mesher/GNUmakefile b/Surface_mesher/test/Surface_mesher/GNUmakefile
index 4ea846d0724..5c3a71a504e 100644
--- a/Surface_mesher/test/Surface_mesher/GNUmakefile
+++ b/Surface_mesher/test/Surface_mesher/GNUmakefile
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ clean: \
 -include my_makefile
 
 dep:
-	$(MAKE) depends
+	rm depends; $(MAKE) depends
 
 .PHONY: dep