diff --git a/lib/log.php b/lib/log.php
index 4e450a027f..8bb2839be6 100644
--- a/lib/log.php
+++ b/lib/log.php
@@ -1,78 +1,39 @@
 <?php
 /**
- * ownCloud
- *
- * @author Robin Appelman
- * @copyright 2012 Robin Appelman icewind1991@gmail.com
- *
- * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
- * modify it under the terms of the GNU AFFERO GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
- * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
- * version 3 of the License, or any later version.
- *
- * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
- * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
- * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
- * GNU AFFERO GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE for more details.
- *
- * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public
- * License along with this library.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
- *
+ * Copyright (c) 2012 Bart Visscher <bartv@thisnet.nl>
+ * This file is licensed under the Affero General Public License version 3 or
+ * later.
+ * See the COPYING-README file.
  */
 
 /**
- *logging utilities
+ * logging utilities
  *
- * Log is saved at data/owncloud.log (on default)
+ * Log is saved by default at data/owncloud.log using OC_Log_Owncloud.
+ * Selecting other backend is done with a config option 'log_type'.
  */
 
-class OC_Log{
+class OC_Log {
 	const DEBUG=0;
 	const INFO=1;
 	const WARN=2;
 	const ERROR=3;
 	const FATAL=4;
 
+	static protected $class = null;
+
 	/**
 	 * write a message in the log
 	 * @param string $app
 	 * @param string $message
 	 * @param int level
 	 */
-	public static function write($app,$message,$level){
-		$minLevel=OC_Config::getValue( "loglevel", 2 );
-		if($level>=$minLevel){
-			$datadir=OC_Config::getValue( "datadirectory", OC::$SERVERROOT.'/data' );
-			$logFile=OC_Config::getValue( "logfile", $datadir.'/owncloud.log' );
-			$entry=array('app'=>$app,'message'=>$message,'level'=>$level,'time'=>time());
-			$fh=fopen($logFile,'a');
-			fwrite($fh,json_encode($entry)."\n");
-			fclose($fh);
+	public static function write($app, $message, $level) {
+		if (!self::$class) {
+			self::$class = 'OC_Log_'.ucfirst(OC_Config::getValue('log_type', 'owncloud'));
+			call_user_func(array(self::$class, 'init'));
 		}
-	}
-
-	/**
-	 * get entries from the log in reverse chronological order
-	 * @param int limit
-	 * @param int offset
-	 * @return array
-	 */
-	public static function getEntries($limit=50,$offset=0){
-		$datadir=OC_Config::getValue( "datadirectory", OC::$SERVERROOT.'/data' );
-		$logFile=OC_Config::getValue( "logfile", $datadir.'/owncloud.log' );
-		$entries=array();
-		if(!file_exists($logFile)){
-			return array();
-		}
-		$contents=file($logFile);
-		if(!$contents){//error while reading log
-			return array();
-		}
-		$end=max(count($contents)-$offset-1,0);
-		$start=max($end-$limit,0);
-		for($i=$end;$i>$start;$i--){
-			$entries[]=json_decode($contents[$i]);
-		}
-		return $entries;
+		$log_class=self::$class;
+		$log_class::write($app, $message, $level);
 	}
 }
diff --git a/lib/log/owncloud.php b/lib/log/owncloud.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6df346e9b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/log/owncloud.php
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * ownCloud
+ *
+ * @author Robin Appelman
+ * @copyright 2012 Robin Appelman icewind1991@gmail.com
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU AFFERO GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 3 of the License, or any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU AFFERO GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public
+ * License along with this library.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *
+ */
+
+/**
+ * logging utilities
+ *
+ * Log is saved at data/owncloud.log (on default)
+ */
+
+class OC_Log_Owncloud {
+	/**
+	 * Init class data
+	 */
+	public static function init() {
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * write a message in the log
+	 * @param string $app
+	 * @param string $message
+	 * @param int level
+	 */
+	public static function write($app, $message, $level) {
+		$minLevel=OC_Config::getValue( "loglevel", 2 );
+		if($level>=$minLevel){
+			$datadir=OC_Config::getValue( "datadirectory", OC::$SERVERROOT.'/data' );
+			$logFile=OC_Config::getValue( "logfile", $datadir.'/owncloud.log' );
+			$entry=array('app'=>$app, 'message'=>$message, 'level'=>$level,'time'=>time());
+			$fh=fopen($logFile, 'a');
+			fwrite($fh, json_encode($entry)."\n");
+			fclose($fh);
+		}
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * get entries from the log in reverse chronological order
+	 * @param int limit
+	 * @param int offset
+	 * @return array
+	 */
+	public static function getEntries($limit=50, $offset=0){
+		$datadir=OC_Config::getValue( "datadirectory", OC::$SERVERROOT.'/data' );
+		$logFile=OC_Config::getValue( "logfile", $datadir.'/owncloud.log' );
+		$entries=array();
+		if(!file_exists($logFile)) {
+			return array();
+		}
+		$contents=file($logFile);
+		if(!$contents) {//error while reading log
+			return array();
+		}
+		$end=max(count($contents)-$offset-1, 0);
+		$start=max($end-$limit,0);
+		for($i=$end;$i>$start;$i--) {
+			$entries[]=json_decode($contents[$i]);
+		}
+		return $entries;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/lib/log/syslog.php b/lib/log/syslog.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d1fb28d8b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/log/syslog.php
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2012 Bart Visscher <bartv@thisnet.nl>
+ * This file is licensed under the Affero General Public License version 3 or
+ * later.
+ * See the COPYING-README file.
+ */
+
+class OC_Log_Syslog {
+	static protected $levels = array(
+		OC_Log::DEBUG => LOG_DEBUG,
+		OC_Log::INFO => LOG_INFO,
+		OC_Log::WARN => LOG_WARNING,
+		OC_Log::ERROR => LOG_ERR,
+		OC_Log::FATAL => LOG_CRIT,
+	);
+
+	/**
+	 * Init class data
+	 */
+	public static function init() {
+		openlog('ownCloud', LOG_PID | LOG_CONS, LOG_USER);
+		// Close at shutdown
+		register_shutdown_function('closelog');
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * write a message in the log
+	 * @param string $app
+	 * @param string $message
+	 * @param int level
+	 */
+	public static function write($app, $message, $level) {
+		$syslog_level = self::$levels[$level];
+		syslog($syslog_level, '{'.$app.'} '.$message);
+	}
+}
diff --git a/settings/ajax/getlog.php b/settings/ajax/getlog.php
index 600ebefcec..ed48b2cae1 100644
--- a/settings/ajax/getlog.php
+++ b/settings/ajax/getlog.php
@@ -13,5 +13,5 @@ OC_JSON::checkAdminUser();
 $count=(isset($_GET['count']))?$_GET['count']:50;
 $offset=(isset($_GET['offset']))?$_GET['offset']:0;
 
-$entries=OC_Log::getEntries($count,$offset);
+$entries=OC_Log_Owncloud::getEntries($count,$offset);
 OC_JSON::success(array("data" => $entries));
diff --git a/settings/log.php b/settings/log.php
index 946f2b6f8e..ddbf72c443 100644
--- a/settings/log.php
+++ b/settings/log.php
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ OC_Util::addStyle( "settings", "settings" );
 OC_Util::addScript( "settings", "apps" );
 OC_App::setActiveNavigationEntry( "core_log" );
 
-$entries=OC_Log::getEntries();
+$entries=OC_Log_Owncloud::getEntries();
 
 OC_Util::addScript('settings','log');
 OC_Util::addStyle('settings','settings');