diff --git a/start-captive-wmaker.sh b/start-captive-wmaker.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..32a5f402
--- /dev/null
+++ b/start-captive-wmaker.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+set -e
+
+project_base="$(dirname $0)"
+
+export WMAKER_USER_ROOT="$HOME/tmp/GNUstep"
+gs_base="$WMAKER_USER_ROOT"
+gs_defaults="$gs_base/Defaults"
+gs_system_defaults="$project_base"/WindowMaker/Defaults
+wm_base="$gs_base/Library/WindowMaker"
+wm_backgrounds="$wm_base/Backgrounds"
+wm_iconsets="$wm_base/IconSets"
+wm_pixmaps="$wm_base/Pixmaps"
+gs_icons="$gs_base/Library/Icons"
+wm_style="$wm_base/Style"
+wm_styles="$wm_base/Styles"
+wm_themes="$wm_base/Themes"
+WindowMaker="$project_base/src/.libs/wmaker"
+convertfonts="$project_base/util/convertfonts"
+
+make_dir_if_needed ()
+{
+    if [ ! -d "$1" ] ; then
+        install -m 0755 -d "$1"
+    fi
+}
+
+rename_dir_if_possible ()
+{
+    if [ ! -d "$2" ] ; then
+       if [ -d "$1" ] ; then
+          mv "$1" "$2"
+       fi
+    fi
+}
+
+copy_defaults_if_needed ()
+{
+    file="$gs_defaults/$1"
+    system_file="$gs_system_defaults/$1"
+    if [ ! -f "$file" ] ; then
+        install -m 0644 "$system_file" "$file"
+    fi
+}
+
+make_dir_if_needed     "$gs_defaults"
+make_dir_if_needed     "$wm_base"
+make_dir_if_needed     "$wm_backgrounds"
+make_dir_if_needed     "$wm_iconsets"
+make_dir_if_needed     "$wm_pixmaps"
+make_dir_if_needed     "$gs_icons"
+rename_dir_if_possible "$wm_style"        "$wm_styles"
+make_dir_if_needed     "$wm_styles"
+make_dir_if_needed     "$wm_themes"
+
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$project_base/wrlib/.libs:$project_base/WINGs/.libs:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH" 
+
+copy_defaults_if_needed WindowMaker
+copy_defaults_if_needed WMRootMenu
+copy_defaults_if_needed WMState
+#copy_defaults_if_needed WMWindowAttributes
+
+if [ -x $convertfonts -a ! -e "$wm_base/.fonts_converted" ] ; then
+# --keep-xlfd is used in order to preserve the original information
+    $convertfonts --keep-xlfd "$gs_defaults/WindowMaker"
+    if [ -f "$gs_defaults/WMGLOBAL" ] ; then
+        $convertfonts --keep-xlfd "$gs_defaults/WMGLOBAL"
+    fi
+    find "$wm_styles" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type f -print0 |
+    xargs -0 -r -n 1 $convertfonts --keep-xlfd
+    touch "$wm_base/.fonts_converted"
+fi
+
+if [ -n "$1" -a -x "$WindowMaker$1" ] ; then
+    WindowMaker="$WindowMaker$1"
+    shift
+fi
+
+Xephyr -screen 1080x760 :1 &
+xephyr_pid=$!
+DISPLAY=:1 gdb \
+           --directory "$project_base" \
+           --quiet \
+           --args "$WindowMaker" -display :1 --for-real "$@"
+kill $xephyr_pid