diff --git a/Alien/Package.pm b/Alien/Package.pm
index 83a472e..f99f48e 100644
--- a/Alien/Package.pm
+++ b/Alien/Package.pm
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ sub checkfile {
 
 =item install
 
-Simply installs a package file. The filename is passed on standard input.
+Simply installs a package file. The filename is passed.
 This has to be overridden in child classes.
 
 =cut
@@ -186,6 +186,18 @@ sub install {
 	my $this=shift;
 }
 
+=item test
+
+Test a package file. The filename is passed, should return an array of lines
+of test results. Child classses may implement this.
+
+=cut
+
+sub test {
+	my $this=shift;
+	return;
+}
+
 =item filename
 
 Set/get the filename of the package the object represents.
diff --git a/Alien/Package/Deb.pm b/Alien/Package/Deb.pm
index 3c0f5b3..cf1de7c 100644
--- a/Alien/Package/Deb.pm
+++ b/Alien/Package/Deb.pm
@@ -45,17 +45,23 @@ if it is available since it is a lot more future-proof.
 
 =cut
 
+sub _inpath {
+	my $this=shift;
+	my $program=shift;
+
+	foreach (split(/:/,$ENV{PATH})) {
+		if (-x "$_/$program") {
+			return 1;
+		}
+	}
+	return '';
+}
+
 sub init {
 	my $this=shift;
 	$this->SUPER::init(@_);
 
-	$this->have_dpkg_deb('');
-	foreach (split(/:/,$ENV{PATH})) {
-		if (-x "$_/dpkg-deb") {
-			$this->have_dpkg_deb(1);
-			last;
-		}
-	}
+	$this->have_dpkg_deb($this->_inpath('dpkg-deb'));
 }
 
 =item checkfile
@@ -85,6 +91,29 @@ sub install {
 		or die "Unable to install";
 }
 
+=item test
+
+Test a deb with lintian. Pass in the filename of the deb to test.
+
+=cut
+
+sub test {
+	my $this=shift;
+	my $deb=shift;
+
+	if ($this->_inpath("lintian")) {
+		# Ignore some lintian warnings that don't matter for
+		# aliened packages.
+		return map { s/\n//; $_ }
+		       grep {
+		       		! /unknown-section alien/
+		       } `lintian $deb`;
+	}
+	else {
+		return "lintian not available, so not testing";
+	}
+}
+
 =item getcontrolfile
 
 Helper method. Pass it the name of a control file, and it will pull it out
diff --git a/alien.pl b/alien.pl
index 9344d12..96f3b6b 100755
--- a/alien.pl
+++ b/alien.pl
@@ -154,6 +154,12 @@ and check to see what they do before using this option.
 
 This is enabled by default when converting from lsb packages.
 
+=item B<-T>, B<--test>
+
+Test the generated packages. Currently this is only supported for debian
+packages, which, if lintian is installed, will be tested with lintian and
+lintian's output displayed.
+
 =item B<-k>, B<--keep-version>
 
 By default, alien adds one to the minor version number of each package it
@@ -283,6 +289,7 @@ Usage: alien [options] file [...]
        --single             Like --generate, but do not create .orig
                             directory.
        --fixperms           Munge/fix permissions and owners.
+       --test               Test generated packages with lintian.
   -r, --to-rpm              Generate a RedHat rpm package.
       --to-slp              Generate a Stampede slp package.
   -l, --to-lsb              Generate a LSB package.
@@ -303,7 +310,7 @@ EOF
 
 # Start by processing the parameters.
 my (%destformats, $generate, $install, $single, $scripts, $patchfile,
-    $nopatch, $tgzdescription, $keepversion, $fixperms);
+    $nopatch, $tgzdescription, $keepversion, $fixperms, $test);
 
 GetOptions(
 	"to-deb|d", sub { $destformats{deb}=1 },
@@ -312,6 +319,7 @@ GetOptions(
 	"to-tgz|t", sub { $destformats{tgz}=1 },
 	"to-slp",   sub { $destformats{slp}=1 },
 	"to-pkg|p", sub { $destformats{pkg}=1 },
+	"test|T", \$test,
 	"generate|g", \$generate,
 	"install|i", \$install,
 	"single|s", sub { $single=1; $generate=1 },
@@ -452,6 +460,13 @@ foreach my $file (@ARGV) {
 			}
 			
 			my $newfile=$package->build;
+			if ($test) {
+				my @results = $package->test($newfile);
+				if (@results) {
+					print "Test results:\n";
+					print "\t$_\n" foreach @results;
+				}
+			}
 			if ($install) {
 				$package->install($newfile);
 				unlink $newfile;
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index edcf54f..1f28d26 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+alien (8.07) unstable; urgency=low
+
+  * Added --test parameter, Closes: #145520
+
+ -- Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>  Thu,  2 May 2002 20:03:21 -0400
+
 alien (8.06) unstable; urgency=low
 
   * Added --fixperms option. Closes: #142850 
diff --git a/debian/control b/debian/control
index a6c8eb3..6260d02 100644
--- a/debian/control
+++ b/debian/control
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ Package: alien
 Architecture: all
 Section: admin
 Depends: debhelper (>= 3), ${perl:Depends}, rpm (>= 2.4.4-2), dpkg-dev, make, cpio
-Suggests: patch, bzip2, lsb-rpm
+Suggests: patch, bzip2, lsb-rpm, lintian
 Description: install non-native packages with dpkg
  Alien allows you to convert LSB, Red Hat, Stampede and Slackware Packages
  into Debian packages, which can be installed with dpkg.