diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index b9bfc8c..9a15488 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 2009-03-30  Markus Gutschke  <markus@shellinabox.com>
 
-	* Added initial revision of demo application
+	* Added initial revision of demo application.
+
+	* Show fatal error message even when running in "quiet" mode.
+
+	* Make it easier to override parameters needed by the system startup
+	scripts.
 
 2009-03-29  Markus Gutschke  <markus@shellinabox.com>
 
diff --git a/config.h b/config.h
index 3a5fcb8..d567bc3 100644
--- a/config.h
+++ b/config.h
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@
 #define STDC_HEADERS 1
 
 /* Most recent revision number in the version control system */
-#define VCS_REVISION "93"
+#define VCS_REVISION "101"
 
 /* Version number of package */
 #define VERSION "2.5"
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 79330f6..247f763 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -2056,7 +2056,7 @@ ac_link='$CC -o conftest$ac_exeext $CFLAGS $CPPFLAGS $LDFLAGS conftest.$ac_ext $
 ac_compiler_gnu=$ac_cv_c_compiler_gnu
 
 
-VCS_REVISION=93
+VCS_REVISION=101
 
 
 cat >>confdefs.h <<_ACEOF
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 25688dc..a635936 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ AC_PREREQ(2.57)
 
 dnl This is the one location where the authoritative version number is stored
 AC_INIT(shellinabox, 2.5, markus@shellinabox.com)
-VCS_REVISION=93
+VCS_REVISION=101
 AC_SUBST(VCS_REVISION)
 AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(VCS_REVISION, "${VCS_REVISION}",
                    [Most recent revision number in the version control system])
diff --git a/debian/shellinabox.default b/debian/shellinabox.default
index 28f99b0..bde0eea 100644
--- a/debian/shellinabox.default
+++ b/debian/shellinabox.default
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ SHELLINABOX_DAEMON_START=1
 # TCP port that shellinboxd's webserver listens on
 SHELLINABOX_PORT=4200
 
+# Parameters that are managed by the system and usually should not need
+# changing:
+# SHELLINABOX_DATADIR=/var/lib/shellinabox
+# SHELLINABOX_USER=shellinabox
+# SHELLINABOX_GROUP=shellinabox
+
 # Any optional arguments (e.g. extra service definitions)
 # We disable beeps, as there have been reports of the VLC plugin crashing
 # Firefox on Linux/x86_64.
diff --git a/debian/shellinabox.init b/debian/shellinabox.init
index 443a01a..2c751c2 100755
--- a/debian/shellinabox.init
+++ b/debian/shellinabox.init
@@ -25,6 +25,12 @@ test -x $DAEMON || exit 0
 # Include shellinabox defaults if available.
 test -f /etc/default/shellinabox && . /etc/default/shellinabox
 
+# Set some default values
+SHELLINABOX_DATADIR="${SHELLINABOX_DATADIR:-/var/lib/shellinabox}"
+SHELLINABOX_PORT="${SHELLINABOX_PORT:-4200}"
+SHELLINABOX_USER="${SHELLINABOX_USER:-shellinabox}"
+SHELLINABOX_GROUP="${SHELLINABOX_GROUP:-shellinabox}"
+
 #
 #       Function that starts the daemon/service.
 #
@@ -34,10 +40,11 @@ d_start() {
     return 0
   fi
 
-  start-stop-daemon --start --oknodo --quiet --pidfile "$PIDFILE"             \
+  start-stop-daemon --start --oknodo --pidfile "$PIDFILE"                     \
                     --exec "$DAEMON" -- -q --background="$PIDFILE"            \
-                    -c /var/lib/shellinabox -p ${SHELLINABOX_PORT:-4200}      \
-                    -u shellinabox -g shellinabox ${SHELLINABOX_ARGS}
+                    -c "${SHELLINABOX_DATADIR}" -p "${SHELLINABOX_PORT}"      \
+                    -u "${SHELLINABOX_USER}" -g "${SHELLINABOX_GROUP}"        \
+                    ${SHELLINABOX_ARGS}
 }
 
 #
diff --git a/logging/logging.c b/logging/logging.c
index 555464d..2a806c6 100644
--- a/logging/logging.c
+++ b/logging/logging.c
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ void message(const char *fmt, ...) {
 void fatal(const char *fmt, ...) {
   va_list ap;
   va_start(ap, fmt);
-  debugMsg(MSG_MESSAGE, fmt, ap);
+  debugMsg(MSG_QUIET, fmt, ap);
   va_end(ap);
   _exit(1);
 }
diff --git a/shellinabox/shellinaboxd.c b/shellinabox/shellinaboxd.c
index c51a697..ea4a4b4 100644
--- a/shellinabox/shellinaboxd.c
+++ b/shellinabox/shellinaboxd.c
@@ -682,7 +682,10 @@ static void parseArgs(int argc, char * const argv[]) {
     if (idx-- <= 0) {
       // Help (or invalid argument)
       usage();
-      exit(idx != -1);
+      if (idx == -1) {
+        fatal("Failed to parse command line");
+      }
+      exit(0);
     } else if (!idx--) {
       // Background
       if (cgi) {
@@ -834,7 +837,7 @@ static void parseArgs(int argc, char * const argv[]) {
   }
   if (optind != argc) {
     usage();
-    exit(1);
+    fatal("Failed to parse command line");
   }
   char *buf                = NULL;
   check(argc >= 1);