diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0842d9a785f1aec84b184e450940b2f3b30e5a8a..1748f941d9a085969bf2ca3c743e41151d08d518 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ SUBDIR+=	ros-langs-dev
 SUBDIR+=	ros-langs
 SUBDIR+=	ros-rx
 SUBDIR+=	ros-std-msgs
+SUBDIR+=	ros18-base
 SUBDIR+=	roscpp-core
 SUBDIR+=	rospack
 SUBDIR+=	spark-genom
diff --git a/ros18-base/DESCR b/ros18-base/DESCR
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a4f609856ba3fc600fbf07bcf42338789b72ea8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ros18-base/DESCR
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+Robot Operating System (ROS) is a meta-operating system for your robot.
+It provides several services for a robot control system, including but
+not limited to:
+* language-independent and network-transparent communication
+* including hardware abstraction
+* low-level device control
+* implementation of commonly-used functionality
+* message-passing between processes
+
+This meta-package includes the minimal set of base packages
diff --git a/ros18-base/MESSAGE b/ros18-base/MESSAGE
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c50ae101a21d4705e78d2afbf3558725cb2b04f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ros18-base/MESSAGE
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+In order to use ros packages, you must add the following variables in your
+environment:
+
+	ROS_PACKAGE_PATH ${PREFIX}
+	ROS_MASTER_URI	http://localhost:11311
+	PYTHONPATH	${PREFIX}/lib/python${PYTHON_VERSION}/site-packages
+	PATH		${PATH}:${PREFIX}/bin
diff --git a/ros18-base/Makefile b/ros18-base/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ff5be58d0fe46cb618664f5ad2ac1002ff8c71e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ros18-base/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+# robotpkg Makefile for:	meta-pkgs/ros-base
+# Created:			Anthony Mallet on Wed, 19 Jan 2011
+#
+
+DISTNAME=	ros-base-1.8
+CATEGORIES=	meta-pkgs
+
+MAINTAINER=	openrobots@laas.fr
+HOMEPAGE=	http://www.ros.org/wiki/
+COMMENT=	The Robotic Operating System
+
+META_PACKAGE=	yes
+NOT_FOR_PLATFORM=
+MESSAGE_SUBST+=	PYTHON_VERSION=${PYTHON_VERSION}
+
+PREFIX?=	${LOCALBASE}/opt/ros/fuerte
+
+include ../../wip/catkin/depend.mk
+include ../../wip/ros-actionlib/depend.mk
+include ../../wip/ros-comm/depend.mk
+include ../../wip/ros-common-msgs/depend.mk
+include ../../wip/ros-core/depend.mk
+include ../../wip/ros-gencpp/depend.mk
+include ../../wip/ros-genlisp/depend.mk
+include ../../wip/ros-genmsg/depend.mk
+include ../../wip/ros-genpy/depend.mk
+include ../../wip/ros-std-msgs/depend.mk
+include ../../wip/roscpp-core/depend.mk
+include ../../wip/rospack/depend.mk
+include ../../mk/robotpkg.mk