diff --git a/eclass/user.eclass b/eclass/user.eclass
index 29910b5..9ee88fe 100644
--- a/eclass/user.eclass
+++ b/eclass/user.eclass
@@ -94,7 +94,11 @@ egetent() {
        *)
                # ignore output if nscd doesn't exist, or we're not running as root
                nscd -i "${db}" 2>/dev/null
-               getent "${db}" "${key}"
+               if [[ "${ROOT}" == "/" ]] ; then
+                       getent "${db}" "${key}"
+               else
+                       grep --color=never "^${key}" ${ROOT}/etc/${db}
+               fi
                ;;
        esac
 }
@@ -120,7 +124,11 @@ enewuser() {
        if [[ -n $(egetent passwd "${euser}") ]] ; then
                return 0
        fi
-       einfo "Adding user '${euser}' to your system ..."
+       if [[ "${ROOT}" == "/" ]] ; then
+               einfo "Adding user '${euser}' to your system ..."
+       else
+               einfo "Adding user '${euser}' to ${ROOT} ..."
+       fi
 
        # options to pass to useradd
        local opts=()
@@ -247,14 +255,18 @@ enewuser() {
                ;;
 
        *)
-               useradd -r "${opts[@]}" "${euser}" || die
+               if [[ "${ROOT}" != "/" ]] ; then
+                       opts+=( --prefix "${ROOT}" )
+               fi
+                       einfo useradd -r "${opts[@]}" "${euser}"
+                       useradd -r "${opts[@]}" "${euser}" || die
                ;;
        esac
 
        if [[ ! -e ${ROOT}/${ehome} ]] ; then
                einfo " - Creating ${ehome} in ${ROOT}"
                mkdir -p "${ROOT}/${ehome}"
-               chown "${euser}" "${ROOT}/${ehome}"
+               chown "${euid}" "${ROOT}/${ehome}"
                chmod 755 "${ROOT}/${ehome}"
        fi
 }
@@ -280,7 +292,11 @@ enewgroup() {
        if [[ -n $(egetent group "${egroup}") ]] ; then
                return 0
        fi
-       einfo "Adding group '${egroup}' to your system ..."
+       if [[ "${ROOT}" == "/" ]] ; then
+               einfo "Adding group '${egroup}' to your system ..."
+       else
+               einfo "Adding group '${egroup}' to ${ROOT} ..."
+       fi
 
        # handle gid
        local egid=$1; shift
@@ -339,8 +355,13 @@ enewgroup() {
                else
                        opts="-g ${egid}"
                fi
-               # We specify -r so that we get a GID in the system range from login.defs
-               groupadd -r ${opts} "${egroup}" || die
+               if [[ "${ROOT}" == "/" ]] ; then
+                       # We specify -r so that we get a GID in the system range from login.defs
+                       groupadd  -r ${opts} "${egroup}" || die
+               else
+                       einfo groupadd --prefix ${ROOT} -r ${opts} "${egroup}"
+                       groupadd --prefix ${ROOT} -r ${opts} "${egroup}" || die                 
+               fi
                ;;
        esac
 }
@@ -454,7 +475,11 @@ esethome() {
                ;;
 
        *)
-               usermod -d "${ehome}" "${euser}" && return 0
+               if [[ "${ROOT}" == "/" ]] ; then
+                       usermod -d "${ehome}" "${euser}" && return 0
+               else
+                       usermod --prefix ${ROOT} -d "${ehome}" "${euser}" && return 0
+               fi
                [[ $? == 8 ]] && eerror "${euser} is in use, cannot update home"
                eerror "There was an error when attempting to update the home directory for ${euser}"
                eerror "Please update it manually on your system (as root):"
@@ -463,4 +488,78 @@ esethome() {
        esac
 }
 
+# @USAGE: <user>
+# @DESCRIPTION:
+# Gets the uid for the specified user.
+egetuid() {
+       [[ $# -eq 1 ]] || die "usage: egetuid <user>"
+
+        egetent passwd "$1" | cut -d: -f3 || die
+}
+
+# @USAGE: <group>
+# @DESCRIPTION:
+# Gets the gid for the specified group.
+egetgid() {
+       [[ $# -eq 1 ]] || die "usage: egetuid <user>"
+
+        egetent passwd "$1" | cut -d: -f3 || die
+}
+
+# @USAGE: <group>
+# @DESCRIPTION:
+# Gets the gid for the specified group.
+egetgid() {
+        [[ $# -eq 1 ]] || die "usage: egetgid <group>"
+
+        egetent group "$1" | cut -d: -f3 || die
+}
+
+
+# @USAGE: <user> <group> <path>
+# @DESCRIPTION:
+# chown portage equivalent, honoring the ${ROOT} variable.
+echown() {
+       # get the user
+        local euser=$1; shift
+        if [[ -z ${euser} ]] ; then
+                eerror "No user specified !"
+                       die "Cannot call echown without a user"
+        fi
+
+       # get the group
+        local egroup=$1; shift
+        if [[ -z ${egroup} ]] ; then
+                eerror "No group specified !"
+                       die "Cannot call echown without a group"
+        fi
+       
+       local euid
+       local egid
+       euid=$(egetuid "${euser}")
+        egid=$(egetgid "${egroup}")
+
+       einfo chown ${euid}:${egid} $@
+
+        chown ${euid}:${egid} $@ || die
+}
+
+# @DESCRIPTION:
+# fowners  honoring the ${ROOT} variable.
+efowners() {
+       # get the user
+        local euser=$1; shift
+        if [[ -z ${euser} ]] ; then
+                eerror "No user specified !"
+                die "Cannot call echown without a user"
+        fi
+
+       # get the group
+        local egroup=$1; shift
+        if [[ -z ${egroup} ]] ; then
+                eerror "No group specified !"
+                die "Cannot call echown without a group"
+        fi
+
+        local euid
+               local egid
+        euid=$(egetuid "${euser}")
+        egid=$(egetgid "${egroup}")
+
+        einfo fowners ${euid}:${egid} $@
+
+        fowners ${euid}:${egid} $@ || die
+}
+
 fi