diff -ruN nis-3.17.orig/debian/nis.init nis-3.17/debian/nis 
--- nis-3.17.orig/debian/nis.init	2008-12-03 20:41:17.000000000 +0100
+++ nis-3.17/debian/nis	2008-12-03 21:01:38.000000000 +0100
@@ -213,13 +213,26 @@
 	start-stop-daemon --stop --quiet --oknodo --signal 1 \
 		--pidfile /var/run/ypserv.pid --exec ${NET}/ypserv
 	;;
+   status)
+ 	if [ "$NISSERVER" != "false" ]; then
+ 		status_of_proc -p "/var/run/ypserv.pid" "/usr/sbin/ybserv" "ypserv"
+		if [ "$NISSERVER" = "master" ]; then
+			status_of_proc "/usr/sbin/rpc.ypxfrd" "rpc.ypxfrd"
+			status_of_proc "/usr/sbin/rpc.yppasswdd" "rpc.yppasswdd"
+		fi
+ 	fi
+ 
+ 	if [ "$NISCLIENT" = "true" ]; then
+ 		status_of_proc -p "/var/run/ypbind.pid" "/usr/sbin/ypbind" "ypbind"
+ 	fi
+        ;; 
   restart)
 	do_stop
 	sleep 2
 	do_start
 	;;
   *)
-	echo "Usage: /etc/init.d/nis {start|stop|reload|force-reload|restart}"
+	echo "Usage: /etc/init.d/nis {start|stop|reload|force-reload|restart|status}"
 	exit 1
 esac