diff --git a/shell/Makefile.am b/shell/Makefile.am
index a9be7952..56649bef 100644
--- a/shell/Makefile.am
+++ b/shell/Makefile.am
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ SUBDIRS = hardware model view intro
 bin_SCRIPTS = sugar-shell
 
 sugardir = $(pkgdatadir)/shell
-sugar_PYTHON =				\
+sugar_PYTHON =			\
+	logsmanager.py		\
 	shellservice.py
 
 confdir = $(pkgdatadir)/shell
diff --git a/shell/logsmanager.py b/shell/logsmanager.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..caa50d23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shell/logsmanager.py
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2007 Red Hat, Inc.
+#
+# This library 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 2 of the License, or (at your option) 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
+# Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License along with this library; if not, write to the
+# Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
+# Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+
+import os
+import time
+
+from sugar import env
+
+_MAX_BACKUP_DIRS = 3
+
+def setup():
+    logs_dir = env.get_logs_path()
+    if not os.path.isdir(logs_dir):
+        os.makedirs(logs_dir)
+
+    backup_logs = []
+    backup_dirs = []
+    for f in os.listdir(logs_dir):
+        path = os.path.join(logs_dir, f)
+        if os.path.isfile(path):
+            backup_logs.append(f)
+        elif os.path.isdir(path):
+            backup_dirs.append(path)    
+
+    if len(backup_dirs) > _MAX_BACKUP_DIRS:
+        backup_dirs.sort()
+        root = backup_dirs[0]
+        for f in os.listdir(root):
+            os.remove(os.path.join(root, f))
+        os.rmdir(root)
+
+    if len(backup_logs) > 0:
+        name = str(int(time.time()))
+        backup_dir = os.path.join(logs_dir, name)
+        os.mkdir(backup_dir)
+        for log in backup_logs:
+            source_path = os.path.join(logs_dir, log)
+            dest_path = os.path.join(backup_dir, log)
+            os.rename(source_path, dest_path)
+
diff --git a/shell/sugar-shell b/shell/sugar-shell
index 9f1d3a24..8f782894 100755
--- a/shell/sugar-shell
+++ b/shell/sugar-shell
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import sys
 import os
 from ConfigParser import ConfigParser
 import gettext
+import signal
 
 import pygtk
 pygtk.require('2.0')
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ from model.shellmodel import ShellModel
 from shellservice import ShellService
 from hardware import hardwaremanager
 from intro import intro
+import logsmanager
 
 def _start_matchbox():
     cmd = ['matchbox-window-manager']
@@ -94,7 +96,7 @@ def _shell_started_cb():
 def main():
     gobject.idle_add(_shell_started_cb)
 
-    logger.setup_logs_dir()
+    logsmanager.setup()
     logger.start('shell')
 
     _save_session_info()
@@ -110,6 +112,9 @@ def main():
         win.show_all()
         gtk.main()
 
+    # FIXME avoid zombie activity processes
+    signal.signal(signal.SIGCHLD, signal.SIG_IGN)
+
     if os.environ.has_key("SUGAR_TP_DEBUG"):
         # Allow the user time to start up telepathy connection managers
         # using the Sugar DBus bus address
diff --git a/sugar/activity/activityfactory.py b/sugar/activity/activityfactory.py
index d3f279d0..d5bdaf7b 100644
--- a/sugar/activity/activityfactory.py
+++ b/sugar/activity/activityfactory.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 
 import logging
 import subprocess
-import signal
+import time
 
 import dbus
 import gobject
@@ -28,13 +28,11 @@ from sugar.presence import presenceservice
 from sugar.activity.activityhandle import ActivityHandle
 from sugar.activity import registry
 from sugar.datastore import datastore
-from sugar import logger
 from sugar import util
+from sugar import env
 
 import os
 
-signal.signal(signal.SIGCHLD, signal.SIG_IGN)
-
 # #3903 - this constant can be removed and assumed to be 1 when dbus-python
 # 0.82.3 is the only version used
 if dbus.version >= (0, 82, 3):
@@ -103,9 +101,9 @@ def get_command(activity, activity_id=None, object_id=None, uri=None):
     return command
 
 def open_log_file(activity, activity_id):
-    name = '%s-%s.log' % (activity.bundle_id, activity_id[:5])
-    path = os.path.join(logger.get_logs_dir(), name)
-    return open(path, 'w')
+    timestamp = str(int(time.time()))
+    name = '%s-%s.log' % (activity.bundle_id, timestamp)
+    return open(env.get_logs_path(name), 'w')
 
 class ActivityCreationHandler(gobject.GObject):
     """Sugar-side activity creation interface
diff --git a/sugar/env.py b/sugar/env.py
index e3e0a512..65b8b0c6 100644
--- a/sugar/env.py
+++ b/sugar/env.py
@@ -64,6 +64,13 @@ def get_profile_path(path=None):
     else:
         return base
 
+def get_logs_path(path=None):
+    base = get_profile_path('logs')
+    if path != None:
+        return os.path.join(base, path)
+    else:
+        return base
+
 def get_user_activities_path():
     return os.path.expanduser('~/Activities')
 
diff --git a/sugar/logger.py b/sugar/logger.py
index bc6af855..f9c28c21 100644
--- a/sugar/logger.py
+++ b/sugar/logger.py
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ def set_level(level):
     if levels.has_key(level):
         logging.getLogger('').setLevel(levels[level])
 
-def start(log_filename=None, redirect_io=True):
+def start(log_filename=None, redirect_io=False):
     if os.environ.has_key('SUGAR_LOGGER_LEVEL'):
         set_level(os.environ['SUGAR_LOGGER_LEVEL'])