diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 6af5b959..9f2e3014 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 NEW IN WAF 1.7.0
 ----------------
-* The compat15 tool is not loaded by default
+* The compat15 tool is disabled by default (the README file explains how to enable it)
 * Python >= 2.4 is now required
+* Python >= 2.6 is required for creating the Waf file in the source tree
 * Added Utils.writef (similar to Utils.readf)
 * Added Node.evict() to provide more control over invalid references
 * Do not raise exception on --help when running on python 2.4
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@ NEW IN WAF 1.7.0
 * Use the cython includes in the dependency scanner #1166
 * Improved the behaviour of Utils.readf/Utils.writef on Win32
 * Made Task.__repr__ more robust #1174
+* Fixed the gcc builds on hp-ux
 
 NEW IN WAF 1.6.11
 -----------------
diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
index 5ae3f578..81a7cac3 100644
--- a/TODO
+++ b/TODO
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-Waf 1.6.x
+Waf 1.7.x
 ---------
 
 * fix the remaining bugs
diff --git a/demos/wscript b/demos/wscript
index 801f0d90..a154c9e5 100644
--- a/demos/wscript
+++ b/demos/wscript
@@ -43,10 +43,12 @@ def configure(conf):
 	except:
 		sub = ''
 
-	conf.exec_command('./waf-light configure build --zip-type=gz --tools=doxygen,fluid,ocaml,swig,compiler_fc,fc_config,fc,fc_scan,g95,ifort,gfortran,batched_cc,%s --prelude='' && /bin/cp waf demos/' % sub, cwd=conf.path.parent.abspath())
+	conf.exec_command('%s %s configure build --zip-type=gz --tools=doxygen,fluid,ocaml,swig,compiler_fc,fc_config,fc,fc_scan,g95,ifort,gfortran,batched_cc,%s --prelude='' && /bin/cp waf demos/' % (sys.executable, sys.argv[0], sub),
+		cwd=conf.path.parent.abspath())
+
 	node = conf.path.find_resource('waf')
 	if not node:
-		conf.fatal('could not find Waf')
+		conf.fatal('Could not find Waf')
 	#if conf.exec_command([node.abspath(), '--help'], shell=False, env={}, cwd=node.parent.abspath()):
 	#	conf.fatal('the waf file cannot be executed')
 	conf.env.WAF = node.abspath()
diff --git a/docs/book/download.txt b/docs/book/download.txt
index da51727f..3c29ca47 100644
--- a/docs/book/download.txt
+++ b/docs/book/download.txt
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ The current Waf version requires an interpreter for the Python programming langu
 
 ==== Downloading and using the Waf binary
 
-The Waf binary is a python script which does not require any installation whatsoever. It may be executed directly from a writeable folder. Just rename it as +waf+ if necessary:
+The Waf binary is a python script which does not require any installation whatsoever. It may be executed directly from a writable folder. Just rename it as +waf+ if necessary:
 
 [source,shishell]
 ---------------
diff --git a/waf-light b/waf-light
index 4732c965..9fc4640c 100755
--- a/waf-light
+++ b/waf-light
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@ C2='x'
 cwd = os.getcwd()
 join = os.path.join
 
-if sys.hexversion<0x206000f:
-	raise ImportError('Python >= 2.6 is required to create the waf file')
+#if sys.hexversion<0x206000f:
+#	raise ImportError('Python >= 2.6 is required to create the waf file')
 
 WAF='waf'
 def b(x):
@@ -76,13 +76,13 @@ def unpack_wafdir(dir):
 		for x in ['Tools', 'extras']:
 			os.makedirs(join(dir, 'waflib', x))
 	except OSError:
-		err("Cannot unpack waf lib into %s\nMove waf into a writeable directory" % dir)
+		err("Cannot unpack waf lib into %s\nMove waf in a writable directory" % dir)
 
 	os.chdir(dir)
 	tmp = 't.bz2'
 	t = open(tmp,'wb')
-	t.write(txt)
-	t.close()
+	try: t.write(txt)
+	finally: t.close()
 
 	try:
 		t = tarfile.open(tmp)
@@ -97,8 +97,10 @@ def unpack_wafdir(dir):
 			except OSError: pass
 			err("Waf cannot be unpacked, check that bzip2 support is present")
 
-	for x in t: t.extract(x)
-	t.close()
+	try:
+		for x in t: t.extract(x)
+	finally:
+		t.close()
 
 	for x in ['Tools', 'extras']:
 		os.chmod(join('waflib',x), 493)