diff --git a/linkchecker b/linkchecker
index c9a865ff..8c0e34ac 100755
--- a/linkchecker
+++ b/linkchecker
@@ -42,112 +42,7 @@ _profile = "linkchecker.prof"
 
 # main usage text
 Usage = i18n._("""USAGE\tlinkchecker [options] file-or-url...
-
-OPTIONS
-For single-letter option arguments the space is not a necessity. So
-'-o colored' is the same as '-ocolored'.
--a, --anchors
-        Check HTTP anchor references. This option applies to both internal
-        and external urls. Default is don't check anchors.
-        This option implies -w because anchor errors are always warnings.
--C, --cookies
-        Accept and send HTTP cookies according to RFC 2109. Only cookies
-        which are sent back to the originating server are accepted.
-        Sent and accepted cookies are provided as additional logging
-        information.
--d, --denyallow
-        Swap checking order to external/internal. Default checking order
-        is internal/external.
--D, --debug
-        Print debugging information. Provide this option multiple times
-        for even more debugging information.
--e regex, --extern=regex
-        Assume urls that match the given expression as external.
-        Only internal HTML links are checked recursively.
--f file, --config=file
-        Use file as configuration file. As default LinkChecker first
-        searches /etc/linkcheckerrc and then ~/.linkcheckerrc
-        (under Windows <path-to-program>\\linkcheckerrc).
--F type[/filename], --file-output=type[/filename]
-        Same as -o, but write to a file linkchecker-out.<type>
-        or <filename> if specified. If the file already exists, it
-        is overwritten. You can specify this option more than once.
-        There is no file output for the blacklist logger. Default is
-        no file output.
--I, --interactive
-        Ask for url if none are given on the commandline.
--i regex, --intern=regex
-        Assume URLs that match the given expression as internal.
-        LinkChecker descends recursively only to internal URLs, not to
-        external.
--h, --help
-        Help me! Print usage information for this program.
--N server, --nntp-server=server
-        Specify an NNTP server for 'news:...' links. Default is the
-        environment variable NNTP_SERVER. If no host is given,
-        only the syntax of the link is checked.
---no-anchor-caching
-        Treat url#anchora and url#anchorb as equal on caching. This
-        is the default browser behaviour, but it's not specified in
-        the URI specification. Use with care.
--o type, --output=type
-        Specify output type as %s.
-        Default type is text.
--p pwd, --password=pwd
-        Try password pwd for HTTP and FTP authorization.
-        Default password is 'joe@'. See also -u.
--P secs, --pause=secs
-        Pause <secs> seconds between each url check. This option
-        implies -t0.
-        Default is no pause between requests.
---profile
-        Write profiling data into a file named %s in the
-        current working directory.
-        See also --viewprof.
--q, --quiet
-        Quiet operation. This is only useful with -F.
--r depth, --recursion-level=depth
-        Check recursively all links up to given depth. A negative depth
-        will enable inifinite recursion.
-        Default depth is 1.
--s, --strict
-        Check only syntax of external links, do not try to connect to them.
-        For local file urls, only local files are internal. For
-        http and ftp urls, all urls at the same domain name are internal.
---status
-        Print check status every 5 seconds to stderr.
--t num, --threads=num
-        Generate no more than num threads. Default number of threads is 5.
-        To disable threading specify a non-positive number.
---timeout=secs
-        Set the timeout for TCP connection attempts in seconds. The default
-        timeout is 30 seconds.
--u name, --user=name
-        Try username name for HTTP and FTP authorization.
-        Default is 'anonymous'. See also -p.
--V, --version
-        Print version and exit.
--v, --verbose
-        Log all checked URLs (implies -w). Default is to log only invalid
-        URLs.
---viewprof
-        Print out previously generated profiling data. See also --profile.
--w, --warnings
-        Log warnings.
--W regex, --warning-regex=regex
-        Define a regular expression which prints a warning if it matches
-        any content of the checked link.
-        This applies of course only to pages which are valid, so we can
-        get their content.
-        Use this to check for pages that contain some form of error
-        message, for example 'This page has moved' or 'Oracle
-        Application Server error'.
-        This option implies -w.
---warning-size-bytes=bytes
-        Print a warning if content size is available and exceeds the given
-        number of bytes.
-        This option implies -w.
-""") % (LoggerKeys, _profile)
+""")
 
 Notes = i18n._("""NOTES
 o A ! before any regex negates it. So '!^mailto:' matches everything but
@@ -220,193 +115,263 @@ def viewprof ():
     sys.exit(0)
 
 # Read command line arguments
-try:
-    # Note: cut out the name of the script
-    options, args = getopt.getopt(sys.argv[1:],
-    "adCDe:f:F:hIi:N:o:p:P:qr:Rst:u:VvwW:", # short options
-    ["anchors",                       # long options
-    "config=",
-    "cookies",
-    "debug", 
-    "extern=",
-    "file-output=",
-    "nntp-server=",
-    "help",
-    "interactive",
-    "intern=",
-    "denyallow",
-    "output=",
-    "password=",
-    "pause=",
-    "profile",
-    "quiet",
-    "recursion-level=",
-    "no-anchor-caching",
-    "wischiwaschi",
-    "robots-txt",
-    "strict",
-    "status",
-    "threads=",
-    "timeout=",
-    "user=",
-    "version",
-    "verbose",
-    "viewprof",
-    "warnings",
-    "warning-regex="])
-except getopt.error:
-    type, value = sys.exc_info()[:2]
-    printUsage(value)
+from optparse import OptionParser
+optparser = OptionParser()
+
+optparser.add_option("-a", "--anchors", action="store_true", dest="anchors",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Check HTTP anchor references. This option applies to both internal
+and external urls. Default is don't check anchors.
+This option implies -w because anchor errors are always warnings."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-C", "--cookies", action="store_true", dest="cookies",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Accept and send HTTP cookies according to RFC 2109. Only cookies
+which are sent back to the originating server are accepted.
+Sent and accepted cookies are provided as additional logging
+information."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-d", "--denyallow", dest="denyallow",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Swap checking order to external/internal. Default checking order
+is internal/external."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-e", "--extern", type="string", action="append", dest="extern",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Assume urls that match the given expression as external.
+Only internal HTML links are checked recursively."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-f", "--config", type="string", dest="configfile",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Use file as configuration file. As default LinkChecker first
+searches /etc/linkcheckerrc and then ~/.linkcheckerrc
+(under Windows <path-to-program>\\linkcheckerrc)."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-F", "--file-output", type="string", dest="fileoutput",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""type[/filename]
+Same as -o, but write to a file linkchecker-out.<type>
+or <filename> if specified. If the file already exists, it
+is overwritten. You can specify this option more than once.
+There is no file output for the blacklist logger. Default is
+no file output."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-D", "--debug", action="count",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Print debugging information. Provide this option multiple times
+for even more debugging information."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-I", "--interactive", action="store_true", dest="interactive",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Ask for url if none are given on the commandline."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-i", "--intern", type="string", action="append", dest="intern",
+                     help=i18n._(
+""" regex, --intern=regex
+Assume URLs that match the given expression as internal.
+LinkChecker descends recursively only to internal URLs, not to
+external."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-N", "--nntp-server", type="string", dest="nntpserver",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Specify an NNTP server for 'news:...' links. Default is the
+environment variable NNTP_SERVER. If no host is given,
+only the syntax of the link is checked."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("--no-anchor-caching", action="store_false", dest="anchorcaching",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Treat url#anchora and url#anchorb as equal on caching. This
+is the default browser behaviour, but it's not specified in
+the URI specification. Use with care."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-o", "--output", type="string", dest="output",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Specify output type as %s. Default type is text.""")%LoggerKeys)
+
+optparser.add_option("-p", "--password", type="string", dest="password",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Try password pwd for HTTP and FTP authorization.
+Default password is 'joe@'. See also -u."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-P", "--pause", type="int", dest="pause",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Pause <secs> seconds between each url check. This option implies -t0.
+Default is no pause between requests."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("--profile", action="store_true", dest="profile",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Write profiling data into a file named %s in the
+current working directory. See also --viewprof.""")%_profile)
+
+optparser.add_option("-q", "--quiet", action="store_true", dest="quiet",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Quiet operation. This is only useful with -F."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-r", "--recursion-level", type="int", dest="recursionlevel",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Check recursively all links up to given depth. A negative depth
+will enable inifinite recursion. Default depth is 1."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-s", "--strict", action="store_true", dest="strict",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Check only syntax of external links, do not try to connect to them.
+For local file urls, only local files are internal. For
+http and ftp urls, all urls at the same domain name are internal."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("--status", action="store_true", dest="status",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Print check status every 5 seconds to stderr."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-t", "--threads", type="int", dest="threads",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Generate no more than num threads. Default number of threads is 5.
+To disable threading specify a non-positive number."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("--timeout", type="int", dest="timeout",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Set the timeout for TCP connection attempts in seconds. The default
+timeout is 30 seconds."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-u", "--user", type="string", dest="username",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Try username name for HTTP and FTP authorization.
+Default is 'anonymous'. See also -p."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-V", "--version", dest="version",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Print version and exit."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-v", "--verbose", action="store_true", dest="verbose",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Log all checked URLs (implies -w). Default is to log only invalid
+URLs."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("--viewprof", action="store_true", dest="viewprof",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Print out previously generated profiling data. See also --profile."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-w", "--warnings", action="store_true", dest="warnings",
+                     help=i18n._("""Log warnings."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("-W", "--warning-regex", type="string", dest="warningregex",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Define a regular expression which prints a warning if it matches
+any content of the checked link.
+This applies of course only to pages which are valid, so we can
+get their content.
+Use this to check for pages that contain some form of error
+message, for example 'This page has moved' or 'Oracle
+Application Server error'.
+This option implies -w."""))
+
+optparser.add_option("--warning-size-bytes", dest="warningsizebytes",
+                     help=i18n._(
+"""Print a warning if content size is available and exceeds the given
+number of bytes. This option implies -w."""))
+
+if "--wischiwaschi" in sys.argv:
+    from linkcheck import util1
+    util1.abbuzze()
+    sys.exit(0)
+
+(options, args) = optparser.parse_args()
 
 # set debug level as early as possible
-for opt,arg in options:
-    if opt=="-D" or opt=="--debug":
-        set_debuglevel(get_debuglevel()+1)
+if options.debug is not None:
+    set_debuglevel(options.debug)
 debug(BRING_IT_ON, "Python", sys.version, "on", sys.platform)
-# read configuration from config files
+# config object
 config = linkcheck.Config.Configuration()
+# read configuration from config files
 configfiles = []
-for opt,arg in options:
-    if opt=="-f" or opt=="--config":
-        configfiles.append(arg)
+if options.configfile:
+    configfiles.append(options.configfile)
 config.read(configfiles)
 # apply commandline options and arguments
 _user = "anonymous"
 _password = "guest@"
 constructauth = False
 do_profile = False
-for opt,arg in options:
-    if opt=="-a" or opt=="--anchors":
-        config["anchors"] = True
-        config["warnings"] = True
-
-    elif opt=="-e" or opt=="--extern":
-        config["externlinks"].append(linkcheck.getLinkPat(arg))
-
-    elif opt=="-h" or opt=="--help":
-        printHelp()
-
-    elif opt=="-o" or opt=="--output":
-        if linkcheck.log.Loggers.has_key(arg):
-            config['log'] = config.newLogger(arg)
-        else:
-            printUsage((i18n._("Illegal argument '%s' for option ") % arg) +\
-	               "'-o, --output'")
-
-    elif opt=="-F" or opt=="--file-output":
-        ns = {'fileoutput': 1}
-        try:
-            type, ns['filename'] = arg.split('/', 1)
-            if not ns['filename']: raise ValueError
-        except ValueError: type = arg
-        if linkcheck.log.Loggers.has_key(type) and type != "blacklist":
-            config['fileoutput'].append(config.newLogger(type, ns))
-        else:
-            printUsage((i18n._("Illegal argument '%s' for option ") % arg) +\
-	               "'-F, --file-output'")
-
-    elif opt=="-I" or opt=="--interactive":
-        config['interactive'] = True
-
-    elif opt=="-i" or opt=="--intern":
-        config["internlinks"].append(linkcheck.getLinkPat(arg))
-
-    elif opt=="-l" or opt=="--denyallow":
-        config["denyallow"] = True
-
-    elif opt=="-N" or opt=="--nntp-server":
-        config["nntpserver"] = arg
-
-    elif opt=="--no-anchor-caching":
-        config["anchorcaching"] = False
-
-    elif opt=="-p" or opt=="--password":
-        _password = arg
-        constructauth = True
-
-    elif opt=="-P" or opt=="--pause":
-        try:
-            wait = int(arg)
-        except ValueError:
-            printUsage(i18n._("Illegal argument %r for option %s") % \
-                       (arg, "'-P, --pause'"))
-        if wait >= 0:
-            config["wait"] = wait
-        else:
-            printUsage(i18n._("Illegal argument %r for option %s") % \
-                       (arg, "'-P, --pause'"))
-
-    elif opt=="--profile":
-        do_profile = True
-
-    elif opt=="-q" or opt=="--quiet":
-    	config["quiet"] = True
-
-    elif opt=="-r" or opt=="--recursion-level":
-        try:
-            depth = int(arg)
-            if depth >= 0:
-                config["recursionlevel"] = depth
-            else:
-                config["recursionlevel"] = -1
-        except ValueError:
-            printUsage(i18n._("Illegal argument %r for option %s") % \
-                       (arg, "'-r, --recursion-level'"))
-    # robots.txt is now default, so ignore this option
-    elif opt=="-R" or opt=="--robots-txt": pass
-
-    elif opt=="-s" or opt=="--strict":
-        config["strict"] = True
-
-    elif opt=="--status":
-        config['status'] = True
-
-    elif opt=="-t" or opt=="--threads":
-        try:
-            config.setThreads(int(arg))
-        except ValueError:
-            printUsage(i18n._("Illegal argument %r for option %s") % \
-                       (arg, "'-t, --threads'"))
-
-    elif opt=="--timeout":
-        try:
-            timeout = int(arg)
-            if timeout <= 0:
-                printUsage(i18n._("Illegal argument %r for option %s") % \
-                           (arg, "'--timeout'"))
-            socket.setdefaulttimeout(timeout)
-        except ValueError:
-            printUsage(i18n._("Illegal argument %r for option %s") % \
-                       (arg, "'--timeout'"))
-
-    elif opt=="-u" or opt=="--user":
-        _user = arg
-        constructauth = True
-
-    elif opt=="-V" or opt=="--version":
-        printVersion()
-
-    elif opt=="-v" or opt=="--verbose":
+if options.anchors is not None:
+    config["anchors"] = options.anchors
+    config["warnings"] = True
+if options.extern:
+    config["externlinks"].extend([linkcheck.getLinkPat(arg) for arg in options.extern])
+if options.output:
+    if linkcheck.log.Loggers.has_key(options.output):
+        config['log'] = config.newLogger(options.output)
+    else:
+        printUsage(i18n._("Illegal argument %r for option %s") % \
+                   (options.output, "'-o, --output'"))
+if options.fileoutput:
+    ns = {'fileoutput': 1}
+    try:
+        ftype, ns['filename'] = options.fileoutput.split('/', 1)
+        if not ns['filename']: raise ValueError
+    except ValueError:
+        ftype = options.fileoutput
+    if linkcheck.log.Loggers.has_key(ftype) and ftype != "blacklist":
+        config['fileoutput'].append(config.newLogger(ftype, ns))
+    else:
+        printUsage(i18n._("Illegal argument %r for option %s") % \
+                   (options.fileoutput, "'-F, --file-output'"))
+if options.interactive is not None:
+    config['interactive'] = options.interactive
+if options.intern:
+    config["internlinks"].extend([linkcheck.getLinkPat(arg) for arg in options.intern])
+if options.denyallow is not None:
+    config["denyallow"] = options.denyallow
+if options.nntpserver:
+    config["nntpserver"] = options.nntpserver
+if options.anchorcaching is not None:
+    config["anchorcaching"] = options.anchorcaching
+if options.password is not None:
+    _password = options.password
+    constructauth = True
+if options.pause is not None:
+    if options.pause >= 0:
+        config["wait"] = options.pause
+    else:
+        printUsage(i18n._("Illegal argument %d for option %s") % \
+                   (options.pause, "'-P, --pause'"))
+if options.profile is not None:
+    do_profile = options.profile
+if options.quiet is not None:
+    config["quiet"] = options.quiet
+if options.recursionlevel is not None:
+    config["recursionlevel"] = options.recursionlevel
+if options.strict is not None:
+    config["strict"] = options.strict
+if options.status is not None:
+    config['status'] = options.status
+if options.threads is not None:
+    config.setThreads(options.threads)
+if options.timeout is not None:
+    if options.timeout > 0:
+        socket.setdefaulttimeout(options.timeout)
+    else:
+        printUsage(i18n._("Illegal argument %r for option %s") % \
+                   (options.timeout, "'--timeout'"))
+if options.username is not None:
+    _user = options.username
+    constructauth = True
+if options.version is not None:
+    printVersion()
+if options.verbose is not None:
+    if options.verbose:
         config["verbose"] = True
         config["warnings"] = True
-
-    elif opt=="--viewprof":
-        viewprof()
-
-    elif opt=="--wischiwaschi":
-        from linkcheck import util1
-        util1.abbuzze()
-        sys.exit(0)
-    elif opt=="-w" or opt=="--warnings":
-        config["warnings"] = True
-
-    elif opt=="-W" or opt=="--warning-regex":
-        config["warningregex"] = re.compile(arg)
-        config["warnings"] = True
-
-    elif opt=="-C" or opt=="--cookies":
-        config['cookies'] = True
-
+if options.viewprof:
+    viewprof()
+if options.warnings is not None:
+    config["warnings"] = options.warnings
+if options.warningregex is not None:
+    config["warningregex"] = re.compile(options.warningregex)
+    config["warnings"] = True
+if options.warningsizebytes is not None:
+    config["warnsizebytes"] = options.warningsizebytes
+if options.cookies is not None:
+    config['cookies'] = options.cookies
 if constructauth:
     config["authentication"].insert(0, {'pattern': re.compile(".*"),
                                         'user': _user,