=== modified file 'doc/lispref/processes.texi'
--- doc/lispref/processes.texi	2010-08-25 05:23:47 +0000
+++ doc/lispref/processes.texi	2010-10-20 11:18:48 +0000
@@ -1937,9 +1937,10 @@
 @var{buffer-or-name} is @code{nil}, it means that the connection is not
 associated with any buffer.
 
-The arguments @var{host} and @var{service} specify where to connect to;
address@hidden is the host name (a string), and @var{service} is the name of
-a defined network service (a string) or a port number (an integer).
+The arguments @var{host} and @var{service} specify where to connect
+to; @var{host} is the host name (a string), and @var{service} is the
+name of a defined network service (a string or a symbol) or a port
+number (an integer).
 @end defun
 
 @node Network Servers
@@ -2076,10 +2077,10 @@
 
 @item :service @var{service}
 @var{service} specifies a port number to connect to, or, for a server,
-the port number to listen on.  It should be a service name that
-translates to a port number, or an integer specifying the port number
-directly.  For a server, it can also be @code{t}, which means to let
-the system select an unused port number.
+the port number to listen on.  It should be a service name (a string
+or a symbol) that translates to a port number, or an integer
+specifying the port number directly.  For a server, it can also be
address@hidden, which means to let the system select an unused port number.
 
 @item :family @var{family}
 @var{family} specifies the address (and protocol) family for

=== modified file 'src/process.c'
--- src/process.c	2010-10-08 10:14:47 +0000
+++ src/process.c	2010-10-20 11:20:53 +0000
@@ -2978,10 +2978,11 @@
 host, and only clients connecting to that address will be accepted.
 
 :service SERVICE -- SERVICE is name of the service desired, or an
-integer specifying a port number to connect to.  If SERVICE is t,
-a random port number is selected for the server.  (If Emacs was
-compiled with getaddrinfo, a port number can also be specified as a
-string, e.g. "80", as well as an integer.  This is not portable.)
+integer specifying a port number to connect to.  If SERVICE is t, a
+random port number is selected for the server.  A port number can also
+be specified as a string, e.g. "80", or a symbol whose name will be
+used, as well as an integer.  This is not necessarily portable; either
+getaddrinfo or getservbyname will be used to look up the port number.
 
 :type TYPE -- TYPE is the type of connection.  The default (nil) is a
 stream type connection, `datagram' creates a datagram type connection,
@@ -3303,6 +3304,11 @@
      Otherwise, use getservbyname to lookup the service.  */
   if (!NILP (host))
     {
+      /* Take a symbol as the service and convert it to a string.  */
+      if (!NILP (service) && !EQ (service, Qt) && SYMBOLP (service))
+	{
+	  service = Fsymbol_name (service);
+	}
 
       /* SERVICE can either be a string or int.
 	 Convert to a C string for later use by getaddrinfo.  */
@@ -3347,6 +3353,12 @@
   /* We end up here if getaddrinfo is not defined, or in case no hostname
      has been specified (e.g. for a local server process).  */
 
+  /* Take a symbol as the service and convert it to a string.  */
+  if (!NILP (service) && !EQ (service, Qt) && SYMBOLP (service))
+    {
+      service = Fsymbol_name (service);
+    }
+
   if (EQ (service, Qt))
     port = 0;
   else if (INTEGERP (service))