--- tail.c	2005-11-02 08:18:47.000000000 -0500
+++ tail.c	2005-12-06 17:52:30.000000000 -0500
@@ -152,6 +152,9 @@
 /* If true, count from start of file instead of end.  */
 static bool from_start;
 
+/* Does input start with the 1st line or the 0th?  */
+static int first_unit = 1;
+
 /* If true, print filename headers.  */
 static bool print_headers;
 
@@ -210,6 +213,7 @@
   {"silent", no_argument, NULL, 'q'},
   {"sleep-interval", required_argument, NULL, 's'},
   {"verbose", no_argument, NULL, 'v'},
+  {"zero", no_argument, NULL, 'z'},
   {GETOPT_HELP_OPTION_DECL},
   {GETOPT_VERSION_OPTION_DECL},
   {NULL, 0, NULL, 0}
@@ -267,6 +271,7 @@
   -s, --sleep-interval=S   with -f, sleep for approximately S seconds\n\
                            (default 1.0) between iterations.\n\
   -v, --verbose            always output headers giving file names\n\
+  -z, --zero               count input lines or bytes from zero\n\
 "), stdout);
      fputs (HELP_OPTION_DESCRIPTION, stdout);
      fputs (VERSION_OPTION_DESCRIPTION, stdout);
@@ -1450,7 +1455,7 @@
 {
   int c;
 
-  while ((c = getopt_long (argc, argv, "c:n:fFqs:v", long_options, NULL))
+  while ((c = getopt_long (argc, argv, "c:n:fFqs:vz", long_options, NULL))
 	 != -1)
     {
       switch (c)
@@ -1544,6 +1549,10 @@
 	  *header_mode = always;
 	  break;
 
+	case 'z':
+	  first_unit = 0;
+	  break;
+
 	case_GETOPT_HELP_CHAR;
 
 	case_GETOPT_VERSION_CHAR (PROGRAM_NAME, AUTHORS);
@@ -1606,11 +1615,8 @@
   /* To start printing with item N_UNITS from the start of the file, skip
      N_UNITS - 1 items.  `tail -n +0' is actually meaningless, but for Unix
      compatibility it's treated the same as `tail -n +1'.  */
-  if (from_start)
-    {
-      if (n_units)
-	--n_units;
-    }
+  if (from_start && n_units)
+    n_units -= first_unit;
 
   if (optind < argc)
     {