diff --git a/roles/common/tasks/main.yaml b/roles/common/tasks/main.yaml
index 20d3a38..9a151aa 100644
--- a/roles/common/tasks/main.yaml
+++ b/roles/common/tasks/main.yaml
@@ -15,12 +15,6 @@
   hostname:
     name: "{{ hostname | default(inventory_hostname) }}"
 
-- name: install system utilities
-  package:
-    name: "{{ item }}"
-    state: present
-  with_items: "{{ sys_utils }}"
-
 - name: configure system timezone
   timezone:
     name: "{{ timezone }}"
diff --git a/roles/common/vars/main.yaml b/roles/common/vars/main.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index e5f8026..0000000
--- a/roles/common/vars/main.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
----
-sys_utils:
-  - git
-  - vim
-  - tmux
-  - dnsutils
-  - ldnsutils
-  - tcpdump
-
-# vim:ft=yaml.ansible:
diff --git a/roles/util/defaults/main.yaml b/roles/util/defaults/main.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9a2e13b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/util/defaults/main.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+---
+util_vim_ppa_state: present
+util_git_ppa_state: present
+
+util_package_state: latest
+
+util_packages:
+  editors:
+    - vim
+  devel:
+    - git
+    - mercurial
+    - fossil
+  network:
+    - nmap
+    - tcpdump
+    - curl
+    - wget
+    - lftp
+    - rsync
+    - dnsutils
+    - ldnsutils
+    - sipcalc
+  math:
+    - bc
+  misc:
+    - tmux
+    - moreutils
+  security:
+    - gnupg
+    - pass
diff --git a/roles/util/tasks/Ubuntu.yaml b/roles/util/tasks/Ubuntu.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..89c7e73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/util/tasks/Ubuntu.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+---
+- name: add vim ppa
+  apt_repository:
+    repo: ppa:jonathonf/vim
+    state: "{{ util_vim_ppa_state }}"
+
+- name: add git ppa
+  apt_repository:
+    repo: ppa:git-core/ppa
+    state: "{{ util_git_ppa_state }}"
diff --git a/roles/util/tasks/main.yaml b/roles/util/tasks/main.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6745c5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/util/tasks/main.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+---
+- name: gather os specific variables
+  include_vars: "{{ lookup('first_found', possible_files) }}"
+  vars:
+    possible_files:
+      files:
+        - "{{ ansible_distribution }}-{{ ansible_distribution_version }}.yaml"
+        - "{{ ansible_distribution }}.yaml"
+        - "{{ ansible_os_family }}.yaml"
+        - "default.yaml"
+      paths:
+        - vars
+
+- name: include os specific tasks
+  include_tasks: "{{ lookup('first_found', possible_files) }}"
+  vars:
+    possible_files:
+      files:
+        - "{{ ansible_distribution }}-{{ ansible_distribution_version }}.yaml"
+        - "{{ ansible_distribution }}.yaml"
+        - "{{ ansible_os_family }}.yaml"
+        - "default.yaml"
+      paths:
+        - tasks
+
+- name: install packages
+  package:
+    name: "{{ item.value }}"
+    state: "{{ util_package_state }}"
+  loop: "{{ (util_packages | default({})) | dict2items }}"
diff --git a/roles/util/vars/default.yaml b/roles/util/vars/default.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29