--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 #
 
 '''
-Gramps distutils module.
+Gramps setuptools module.
 '''
 
 #check python version first
@@ -32,11 +32,11 @@
 if sys.version_info < (3, 2):
     raise SystemExit("Gramps requires Python 3.2 or later.")
 
-from distutils import log
-from distutils.core import setup, Command
-from distutils.util import convert_path, newer
-from distutils.command.build import build as _build
-from distutils.command.install import install as _install
+from setuptools import setup, Command
+try:
+    from setuptools.command.build import build as _build
+except ImportError:
+    from distutils.command.build import build as _build
 import os
 import glob
 import codecs
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@
 from gramps.version import VERSION
 import unittest
 import argparse
+import logging
+
+_LOG = logging.getLogger(".setup")
 
 # this list MUST be a subset of _LOCALE_NAMES in gen/utils/grampslocale.py
 # (that is, if you add a new language here, be sure it's in _LOCALE_NAMES too)
@@ -75,6 +78,17 @@
     packaging = True
 sys.argv = [sys.argv[0]] + passthrough
 
+def newer(source, target):
+    '''
+    Determines if a target file needs to be rebuilt.
+
+    Returns True if the target file doesn't exist or if the source file is
+    newer than the target file.
+    '''
+    if not os.path.exists(target):
+        return True
+    return os.path.getmtime(source) > os.path.getmtime(target)
+
 def intltool_version():
     '''
     Return the version of intltool as a tuple.
@@ -140,7 +154,7 @@
                 reply = input(ask)
                 if reply in ['n', 'N']:
                     raise SystemExit(msg)
-            log.info('Compiling %s >> %s', po_file, mo_file)
+            _LOG.info('Compiling %s >> %s', po_file, mo_file)
 
         #linux specific piece:
         target = 'share/locale/' + lang + '/LC_MESSAGES'
@@ -179,7 +193,7 @@
                     with open(newfile, 'rb') as f_in,\
                             gzip.open(man_file_gz, 'wb') as f_out:
                         f_out.writelines(f_in)
-                        log.info('Compiling %s >> %s', filename, man_file_gz)
+                        _LOG.info('Compiling %s >> %s', filename, man_file_gz)
 
                     os.remove(newfile)
                     filename = False
@@ -193,30 +207,26 @@
     '''
     Merge translation files into desktop and mime files
     '''
-    for filename in _FILES:
-        filename = convert_path(filename)
-        strip_files(filename + '.in', filename, ['_tip', '_name'])
-
     i_v = intltool_version()
     if i_v is None or i_v < (0, 25, 0):
-        log.info('No intltool or version < 0.25.0, build_intl is aborting')
+        _LOG.info('No intltool or version < 0.25.0, build_intl is aborting')
         return
     data_files = build_cmd.distribution.data_files
     base = build_cmd.build_base
 
-    merge_files = (('data/gramps.desktop', 'share/applications', '-d'),
-                    ('data/gramps.keys', 'share/mime-info', '-k'),
-                    ('data/gramps.xml', 'share/mime/packages', '-x'),
-                    ('data/gramps.appdata.xml', 'share/metainfo', '-x'))
+    merge_files = (('gramps.desktop', 'share/applications', '-d'),
+                    ('gramps.keys', 'share/mime-info', '-k'),
+                    ('gramps.xml', 'share/mime/packages', '-x'),
+                    ('gramps.appdata.xml', 'share/metainfo', '-x'))
 
     for filename, target, option in merge_files:
-        filenamelocal = convert_path(filename)
+        filenamelocal = os.path.join('data', filename)
         newfile = os.path.join(base, filenamelocal)
         newdir = os.path.dirname(newfile)
         if not(os.path.isdir(newdir) or os.path.islink(newdir)):
             os.makedirs(newdir)
         merge(filenamelocal + '.in', newfile, option)
-        data_files.append((target, [base + '/' + filename]))
+        data_files.append((target, [base + '/data/' + filename]))
 
 def strip_files(in_file, out_file, mark):
     '''
@@ -232,7 +242,7 @@
                     line = line.replace(marker, marker[1:])
                 fb.write(line)
         old.close()
-        log.info('Compiling %s >> %s', in_file, out_file)
+        _LOG.info('Compiling %s >> %s', in_file, out_file)
 
 def merge(in_file, out_file, option, po_dir='po', cache=True):
     '''
@@ -262,7 +272,7 @@
             msg = ('ERROR: %s was not merged into the translation files!\n' %
                     out_file)
             raise SystemExit(msg)
-        log.info('Compiling %s >> %s', in_file, out_file)
+        _LOG.info('Compiling %s >> %s', in_file, out_file)
 
 class build(_build):
     """Custom build command."""
@@ -273,22 +283,6 @@
         build_intl(self)
         _build.run(self)
 
-class install(_install):
-    """Custom install command."""
-    def run(self):
-        resource_file = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'gramps', 'gen',
-                                     'utils', 'resource-path')
-        with open(resource_file, 'w', encoding='utf-8', errors='strict') as fp:
-            if packaging:
-                path = resource_path
-            else:
-                path = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(self.install_data, 'share'))
-            fp.write(path)
-
-        _install.run(self)
-
-        os.remove(resource_file)
-
 class test(Command):
     """Command to run Gramps unit tests"""
     description = "run all unit tests"
@@ -503,7 +497,7 @@
       url = 'http://gramps-project.org',
       license = 'GPL v2 or greater',
       platforms = ['FreeBSD', 'Linux', 'MacOS', 'Windows'],
-      cmdclass = {'build': build, 'install': install, 'test': test},
+      cmdclass = {'build': build, 'test': test},
       packages = packages,
       package_data = {'gramps': package_data},
       data_files = data_files,
Binary files a/.setup.py.swp and b/.setup.py.swp differ