diff --git a/plugins/Unix/plugin.py b/plugins/Unix/plugin.py
index 88f033a73..28b79989d 100644
--- a/plugins/Unix/plugin.py
+++ b/plugins/Unix/plugin.py
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ def pipeReadline(fd, timeout=2):
         raise TimeoutError
 
 class Unix(callbacks.Plugin):
+    threaded = True
     @internationalizeDocstring
     def errno(self, irc, msg, args, s):
         """<error number or code>
@@ -186,7 +187,7 @@ class Unix(callbacks.Plugin):
         else:
             resp = 'Something unexpected was seen in the [ai]spell output.'
         irc.reply(resp)
-    spell = wrap(spell, ['somethingWithoutSpaces'])
+    spell = thread(wrap(spell, ['something']))
 
     @internationalizeDocstring
     def fortune(self, irc, msg, args):
@@ -253,12 +254,20 @@ class Unix(callbacks.Plugin):
             irc.error(_('The wtf command is not configured.  If it is installed '
                       'on this system, reconfigure the '
                       'supybot.plugins.Unix.wtf.command configuration '
+<<<<<<< HEAD
                       'variable appropriately.'))
     wtf = wrap(wtf, [optional(('literal', ['is'])), 'something'])
+=======
+                      'variable appropriately.')
+    wtf = thread(wrap(wtf, [optional(('literal', ['is'])), 'something']))
+>>>>>>> edc4d86... Unix: various enhancements to the ping command:
 
-    def ping(self, irc, msg, args, host):
-        """<host or ip>
-        Sends an ICMP echo request to the specified host
+    def ping(self, irc, msg, args, optlist, host):
+        """[--c <count>] [--i <interval>] [--t <ttl>] [--W <timeout>] <host or ip> 
+        Sends an ICMP echo request to the specified host. 
+        The arguments correspond with those listed in ping(8). --c is 
+        limited to 10 packets or less (default is 5). --i is limited to 5  
+        or less. --W is limited to 10 or less.
         """
         pingCmd = self.registryValue('ping.command')
         if not pingCmd:
@@ -270,26 +279,40 @@ class Unix(callbacks.Plugin):
             try: host = host.group(0)
             except AttributeError: pass
             
+            args = [pingCmd]
+            for opt, val in optlist:
+                if opt == 'c' and val > 10: val = 10
+                if opt == 'i' and val >  5: val = 5                
+                if opt == 'W' and val > 10: val = 10
+                args.append('-%s' % opt)
+                args.append(str(val))
+            if '-c' not in args:
+                args.append('-c')
+                args.append('5')
+            args.append(host)
             try:
-                inst = subprocess.Popen([pingCmd,'-c','1', host], 
-                                        stdout=subprocess.PIPE, 
-                                        stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
-                                        stdin=file(os.devnull))
+                inst = subprocess.Popen(args, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, 
+                                              stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
+                                              stdin=file(os.devnull))
             except OSError, e:
                 irc.error('It seems the configured ping command was '
                           'not available (%s).' % e, Raise=True)
-
             result = inst.communicate()
-            
             if result[1]: # stderr
-                irc.reply(' '.join(result[1].split()))
+                irc.error(' '.join(result[1].split()))
             else:
                 response = result[0].split("\n");
-                irc.reply(' '.join(response[1].split()[3:5]).split(':')[0] 
-                          + ': ' + ' '.join(response[-3:]))
-    
-    _hostExpr = re.compile(r'^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9\.-]*$', re.I)
-    ping = wrap(ping, [first('ip', ('matches', _hostExpr, 'Invalid hostname'))])
+                if response[1]:
+                    irc.reply(' '.join(response[1].split()[3:5]).split(':')[0] 
+                              + ': ' + ' '.join(response[-3:]))
+                else:
+                    irc.reply(' '.join(response[0].split()[1:3]) 
+                              + ': ' + ' '.join(response[-3:]))
+
+    _hostExpr = re.compile(r'^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9\.-]*[a-z0-9]$', re.I)
+    ping = thread(wrap(ping, [getopts({'c':'positiveInt','i':'float',
+                                't':'positiveInt','W':'positiveInt'}), 
+                       first('ip', ('matches', _hostExpr, 'Invalid hostname'))]))
 
 Class = Unix
 # vim:set shiftwidth=4 softtabstop=4 expandtab textwidth=79:
diff --git a/plugins/Unix/test.py b/plugins/Unix/test.py
index 6a67638c0..e46dcb7e7 100644
--- a/plugins/Unix/test.py
+++ b/plugins/Unix/test.py
@@ -67,9 +67,25 @@ if os.name == 'posix':
 
         if utils.findBinaryInPath('ping') is not None:
             def testPing(self):
-                self.assertNotError('unix ping localhost')
+                self.assertNotError('unix ping 127.0.0.1')
                 self.assertError('unix ping')
-
-
+                self.assertError('unix ping -localhost')
+                self.assertError('unix ping local%host')
+            def testPingCount(self):
+                self.assertNotError('unix ping --c 1 127.0.0.1')
+                self.assertError('unix ping --c a 127.0.0.1')
+                self.assertRegexp('unix ping --c 11 127.0.0.1','10 packets')
+                self.assertRegexp('unix ping 127.0.0.1','5 packets')
+            def testPingInterval(self):
+                self.assertNotError('unix ping --i 1 --c 1 127.0.0.1')
+                self.assertError('unix ping --i a --c 1 127.0.0.1')
+                # Super-user privileged interval setting
+                self.assertError('unix ping --i 0.1 --c 1 127.0.0.1') 
+            def testPingTtl(self):
+                self.assertNotError('unix ping --t 64 --c 1 127.0.0.1')
+                self.assertError('unix ping --t a --c 1 127.0.0.1')
+            def testPingWait(self):
+                self.assertNotError('unix ping --W 1 --c 1 127.0.0.1')
+                self.assertError('unix ping --W a --c 1 127.0.0.1')
 
 # vim:set shiftwidth=4 softtabstop=4 expandtab textwidth=79: