diff --git a/standalone/unix/build_release.R b/standalone/unix/build_release.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aca037f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/standalone/unix/build_release.R
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+## build the release bundle and upload to github
+setwd("/path/to/ovscout2")
+
+pwd <- getwd()
+if (!file.exists("DESCRIPTION")) stop("cannot find DESCRIPTION file, are you in the ovscout2 repo base directory?")
+pkgInfo <- read.dcf("DESCRIPTION")
+if (!identical(pkgInfo[colnames(pkgInfo) == "Package"], "ovscout2")) stop("DESCRIPTION file does not belong to ovscout2, are you in the ovscout2 repo base directory?")
+this_release <- NULL
+if ("Version" %in% colnames(pkgInfo)) this_release <- pkgInfo[colnames(pkgInfo) == "Version"]
+if (is.null(this_release)) stop("could not determine the version of ovscout2")
+this_release <- paste0("v", this_release)
+
+tmpdir <- tempfile()
+dir.create(tmpdir)
+
+file.copy("inst/extdata/standalone/unix/ov_scouter", tmpdir, overwrite = TRUE)
+file.copy("inst/extdata/standalone/unix/ov_scouter_demo", tmpdir, overwrite = TRUE)
+file.copy("inst/extdata/standalone/unix/ov_scouter-nonportable.R", tmpdir, overwrite = TRUE)
+
+setwd(tmpdir)
+
+## zip everything up
+zipfile <- file.path(tmpdir, "ovscout2-unix-x64.zip")
+cat("zipping ...\n")
+res <- utils::zip(zipfile, files = c("ov_scouter", "ov_scouter_demo", "ov_scouter-nonportable.R"))
+if (res == 0L) {
+    cat("OK.\n")
+} else {
+    stop("zip failed with error code ", res)
+}
+
+setwd(pwd)
+
+## upload to github
+## needs your GITHUB_TOKEN env var set
+
+library(piggyback)
+
+rel_info <- pb_list("openvolley/ovscout2") ## existing releases
+if (is.null(rel_info) || !any(this_release %in% rel_info$tag)) {
+    pb_new_release("openvolley/ovscout2", this_release)
+    ## that might not work until issue resolved in piggyback pkg
+}
+pb_upload(zipfile, repo = "openvolley/ovscout2", name = "ovscout2-unix-x64.zip")
diff --git a/standalone/win/build_release.R b/standalone/win/build_release.R
index d096c7d..176d159 100644
--- a/standalone/win/build_release.R
+++ b/standalone/win/build_release.R
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ if (res == 0L) {
     stop("zip failed with error code ", res)
 }
 
-file.copy(zipfile, "ovscout2-x64.zip")
+file.copy(zipfile, "ovscout2-win-x64.zip")
 
 setwd(pwd)
 .libPaths(old_libpaths)
@@ -83,4 +83,4 @@ if (is.null(rel_info) || !any(this_release %in% rel_info$tag)) {
     pb_new_release("openvolley/ovscout2", this_release)
     ## that might not work until issue resolved in piggyback pkg
 }
-pb_upload(zipfile, repo = "openvolley/ovscout2", name = "ovscout2-x64.zip")
+pb_upload(zipfile, repo = "openvolley/ovscout2", name = "ovscout2-win-x64.zip")
diff --git a/vignettes/ovscout2-user-manual.Rmd b/vignettes/ovscout2-user-manual.Rmd
index 9dabe68..62b479c 100644
--- a/vignettes/ovscout2-user-manual.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/ovscout2-user-manual.Rmd
@@ -33,15 +33,19 @@ The standalone installer allows you to run the app without having to do anything
 
 ### Windows
 
-1. Download the `ovscout2-x64.zip` file and unzip it to a convenient location.
+1. Download the `ovscout2-win-x64.zip` file and unzip it to a convenient location.
 
-2. Run the `ov_scouter.bat` or `ov_scouter_demo.bat` file. The first run will take quite some time, because it will install a number of additional R packages. Subsequent startups will be much faster (it checks for updates on each startup, so might reinstall some packages on occasion).
+1. Run the `ov_scouter.bat` or `ov_scouter_demo.bat` file. The first run will take quite some time, because it will install a number of additional R packages. Subsequent startups will be much faster (it checks for updates on each startup, so might reinstall some packages on occasion).
 
 ### Linux/Mac
 
 1. Install R, following https://cran.r-project.org/
 
-2. Run the `ov_scouter` or `ov_scouter_demo` script. The first run will take quite some time, because it will install a number of additional R packages. Subsequent startups will be much faster (it checks for updates on each startup, so might reinstall some packages on occasion).
+1. Download the `ovscout2-unix-x64.zip` file and unzip it to a convenient location.
+
+1. Run the `ov_scouter` or `ov_scouter_demo` script. The first run will take quite some time, because it will install a number of additional R packages. Subsequent startups will be much faster (it checks for updates on each startup, so might reinstall some packages on occasion).
+
+Note: not tested on Mac.
 
 ## Installation from R