diff --git a/static-build.bash b/static-build.bash
new file mode 100755
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/static-build.bash
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# This is an unsupported tool for creating static linux builds for maximum distro compatibility
+# we use this in the release of Holoscape.
+
+# This script depends upon the following packages:
+#  - some standard utilities
+#  - docker
+#  - binfmt_support
+#  - qemu-user-static
+
+# Run like `TGT_ARCH=x64 ./build-hc.bash`
+
+# Adjust the following versions as desired or necessary (qemu download changes occasionally):
+
+HC_VER="${HC_VER:-0.0.42-alpha2}"
+HC_URL="https://github.com/holochain/holochain-rust/archive/v${HC_VER}.tar.gz"
+HC_DIR="holochain-rust-${HC_VER}"
+
+SSL_VER="${SSL_VER:-OpenSSL_1_1_1d}"
+SSL_URL="https://github.com/openssl/openssl/archive/${SSL_VER}.tar.gz"
+SSL_DIR="/openssl-${SSL_VER}"
+
+QEMU_VER="qemu-user-static_3.1+dfsg-8+deb10u3_amd64"
+QEMU_URL="http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/pool/main/q/qemu/${QEMU_VER}.deb"
+
+TGT_ARCH="${TGT_ARCH:-x64}"
+
+qemu_bin=""
+docker_from=""
+
+case "${TGT_ARCH}" in
+  "x32")
+    qemu_bin="qemu-i386-static"
+    docker_from="i386/debian:jessie-slim"
+    echo "TGT_ARCH x32 coming soon"
+    exit 1
+    ;;
+  "x64")
+    qemu_bin="qemu-x86_64-static"
+    docker_from="amd64/debian:jessie-slim"
+    ;;
+  "arm32")
+    qemu_bin="qemu-arm-static"
+    docker_from="arm32v7/debian:jessie-slim"
+    echo "TGT_ARCH arm32 coming soon"
+    exit 1
+    ;;
+  "arm64")
+    qemu_bin="qemu-aarch64-static"
+    docker_from="arm64v8/debian:jessie-slim"
+    echo "TGT_ARCH arm64 coming soon"
+    exit 1
+    ;;
+  *)
+    echo "UNSUPPORTED ARCHITECTURE: '${TGT_ARCH}' - must be: x32, x64, arm32, or arm64"
+    exit 1
+    ;;
+esac
+
+img="holochain-v${HC_VER}-${TGT_ARCH}"
+
+echo "building ${img} binaries"
+
+if [ ! -f "${QEMU_VER}.deb" ]; then
+  curl -L -O "${QEMU_URL}"
+fi
+( \
+  mkdir -p ./qemu && \
+  cd ./qemu && \
+  ar x "../${QEMU_VER}.deb" && \
+  tar xf data.tar.xz \
+)
+
+mkdir -p "${TGT_ARCH}"
+cp -a -f "./qemu/usr/bin/${qemu_bin}" "${TGT_ARCH}"
+
+# use a really old system on purpose so we bind to a widely portable libc ABI
+# but we need to use a newer static openssl for security
+cat > "${TGT_ARCH}/Dockerfile" <<EOF
+FROM ${docker_from}
+COPY ./${qemu_bin} /usr/bin/${qemu_bin}
+# -- update the system -- #
+RUN printf \
+"deb http://archive.debian.org/debian/ jessie main\n"\
+"deb-src http://archive.debian.org/debian/ jessie main\n"\
+"\n"\
+"deb http://security.debian.org jessie/updates main\n"\
+"deb-src http://security.debian.org jessie/updates main\n"\
+ > /etc/apt/sources.list
+RUN apt-get update
+RUN apt-get install -y curl ca-certificates build-essential git pkg-config
+# -- build newer openssl -- #
+RUN curl -L -O "${SSL_URL}"
+RUN tar xf "${SSL_VER}.tar.gz"
+RUN ( cd ${SSL_DIR} && ./config )
+RUN ( cd ${SSL_DIR} && make -j$(nproc) )
+ENV OPENSSL_STATIC="1"
+ENV OPENSSL_LIB_DIR="${SSL_DIR}"
+ENV OPENSSL_INCLUDE_DIR="${SSL_DIR}/include"
+# -- download / configure rust -- #
+RUN curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y --default-toolchain nightly-2019-11-16
+ENV CARGO_BUILD_JOBS="$(nproc)"
+ENV CARGO_INCREMENTAL="1"
+ENV NUM_JOBS="$(nproc)"
+ENV RUSTFLAGS="-D warnings -Z external-macro-backtrace -Z thinlto -C codegen-units=10"
+# -- download / build holochain binaries -- #
+RUN curl -L -O "${HC_URL}"
+RUN tar xf "v${HC_VER}.tar.gz"
+RUN ( cd ${HC_DIR} && PATH=/root/.cargo/bin:\$PATH cargo build --release -p hc )
+RUN ( cd ${HC_DIR} && PATH=/root/.cargo/bin:\$PATH cargo build --release -p holochain )
+RUN cp ${HC_DIR}/target/release/hc .
+RUN cp ${HC_DIR}/target/release/holochain .
+RUN ldd hc holochain
+EOF
+
+( cd ${TGT_ARCH} && docker build -t "${img}" . )
+ID="$(docker create "${img}")"
+docker cp "${ID}:hc" "./${TGT_ARCH}/hc-v${HC_VER}-${TGT_ARCH}"
+docker cp "${ID}:holochain" "./${TGT_ARCH}/holochain-v${HC_VER}-${TGT_ARCH}"
+docker rm "${ID}"