OK, so an easier way to manage versions.

Debian package creation - crude, probably violated the Debian policys
but it seems to work just fine...
some other changes.

gpio/Makefile

@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@ OBJ	=	$(SRC:.c=.o)
 
 all:		gpio
 
+version.h:	../VERSION
+	./newVersion
+
 gpio:	$(OBJ)
 	@echo [Link]
 	@$(CC) -o $@ $(OBJ) $(LDFLAGS) $(LIBS)
@@ -63,7 +66,7 @@ tags:	$(SRC)
 	@ctags $(SRC)
 
 .PHONY:	install
-install:
+install: gpio
 	@echo "[Install]"
 	@cp gpio		$(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/bin
 	@chown root.root	$(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/bin/gpio
@@ -71,6 +74,12 @@ install:
 	@mkdir -p		$(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/man/man1
 	@cp gpio.1		$(DESTDIR)$(PREFIX)/man/man1
 
+.PHONY:	install-deb
+install-deb:	gpio
+	@echo "[Install: deb]"
+	@install -m 0755 -d							~/wiringPi/debian/wiringPi/usr/bin
+	@install -m 0755 gpio							~/wiringPi/debian/wiringPi/usr/bin
+
 .PHONY:	uninstall
 uninstall:
 	@echo "[UnInstall]"

gpio/gpio.c

@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 #include <gertboard.h>
 #include <piFace.h>
 
+#include "version.h"
 
 extern int wiringPiDebug ;
 
@@ -53,7 +54,6 @@ extern void doPins       (void) ;
 #  define	FALSE	(1==2)
 #endif
 
-#define	VERSION			"2.23"
 #define	PI_USB_POWER_CONTROL	38
 #define	I2CDETECT		"/usr/sbin/i2cdetect"
 

gpio/newVersion

@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# newVersion:
+#	Utility to create the version.h include file for the gpio command.
+#
+#	Copyright (c) 2012-2015 Gordon Henderson
+#################################################################################
+# This file is part of wiringPi:
+#	Wiring Compatable library for the Raspberry Pi
+#
+#    wiringPi is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+#    it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+#    the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+#    (at your option) any later version.
+#
+#    wiringPi 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 Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+#    You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+#    along with wiringPi.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#################################################################################
+
+rm -f version.h
+echo "#define VERSION \"`cat ../VERSION`\"" > version.h

gpio/version.h

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+#define VERSION "2.24"