diff --git a/apps/conf_auth/Makefile b/apps/conf_auth/Makefile
index 7d13f361..6dfc0ad6 100644
--- a/apps/conf_auth/Makefile
+++ b/apps/conf_auth/Makefile
@@ -2,52 +2,7 @@
 NAME=conf_auth
 VERSION=2.2.0-1
 
-PYTHON_VERSION=2.3
-
-LIB_INSTALLDIR="/usr/local/lib/sems/ivr"
-TARBALL_PREFIX=sems-app-${NAME}
-TARBALL="${TARBALL_PREFIX}-${VERSION}.tar.gz"
-
-BASEDIR?=${basedir}
-
-GROUP="root"
-OWNER="root"
-
-BIN_PERMISSIONS="755"
-LIB_PERMISSIONS="644"
-
-PYCHECKERARGS = --stdlib
-PYCHECKERDOCARGS = --classdoc --funcdoc
-
-.PHONY: all
-all: clean compile
-
-clean:
-	find . -iname "*\.pyc" -o -iname "*\.py~" | xargs rm -f
-	rm -f ${TARBALL_PREFIX}*.tar.gz
-
-compile: 
-	/usr/bin/python${PYTHON_VERSION} /usr/lib/python${PYTHON_VERSION}/compileall.py -q .
-
-install: all
-	install -d ${BASEDIR}/${LIB_INSTALLDIR}
-	install -m ${LIB_PERMISSIONS} -o ${OWNER} -g ${GROUP} *.pyc ${BASEDIR}/${LIB_INSTALLDIR}
-
-uninstall: 
-	@echo "please remove the files from ${LIB_INSTALLDIR} manually."
-
-fulltest: 
-	find | grep /Test | grep -v ".svn" | grep \\.py$$ | sed -e "s#^./##g" | bash -e - 
-
-check: 
-	@echo "nothing to check."
-
-doccheck: 
-	@echo "nothing to doccheck."
-
-dist: all
-	tar -cvzf ${TARBALL} . --exclude=*.tar.gz \
-				--exclude=.svn \
-				--exclude=*~
+LIBDIR=.
 
+include ../ivr/Makefile.ivr_application
 
diff --git a/apps/ivr/Makefile.ivr_application b/apps/ivr/Makefile.ivr_application
index c1665ac0..12df878c 100644
--- a/apps/ivr/Makefile.ivr_application
+++ b/apps/ivr/Makefile.ivr_application
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # generic Makefile for ivr applications
 
+# adjust python version here: 2.5, 2.4 or 2.3
+PYTHON_VERSION=2.4
+
+# 
 LIB_INSTALLDIR="/usr/local/lib/sems/ivr"
 TARBALL_PREFIX=sems-app-${NAME}
 TARBALL="${TARBALL_PREFIX}-${VERSION}.tar.gz"
@@ -23,7 +27,7 @@ clean:
 	rm -f ${TARBALL_PREFIX}*.tar.gz
 
 compile: 
-	python${PYTHON_VERSION} py_comp -q .
+	python${PYTHON_VERSION} ../ivr/py_comp -q .
 
 install: all
 	install -d ${BASEDIR}/${LIB_INSTALLDIR}
diff --git a/apps/mailbox/Makefile b/apps/mailbox/Makefile
index 098b4454..1e1533b9 100644
--- a/apps/mailbox/Makefile
+++ b/apps/mailbox/Makefile
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@
 NAME=mailbox
 VERSION=2.2.0-1
 
-PYTHON_VERSION=2.3
-
 LIBDIR=imap_mailbox
 
 include ../ivr/Makefile.ivr_application