1. A method in a computing system, comprising: receiving in the computing system a distinguished patch package for modifying the behavior of an installed program; automatically extracting from the distinguished patch package (1) patch application information, identifying a distinguished portion of a distinguished program against which the patch is to be applied, and (2) patch behavior information, specifying a manner in which to modify the behavior of the distinguished portion of the distinguished program; and automatically adding a distinguished entry to a patch table, the distinguished entry containing the extracting patch application information and patch behavior information.