A patch for GNU's coreutils v8.22 which adds an option to md5sum and sha*sum, that allows one to print only the checksum.

coreutils-8.22-md5-sha.patch

--- a/src/md5sum.c
+++ b/src/md5sum.c
@@ -42,42 +42,42 @@
 
 /* The official name of this program (e.g., no 'g' prefix).  */
 #if HASH_ALGO_MD5
-# define PROGRAM_NAME "md5sum"
+# define PROGRAM_NAME "md5"
 # define DIGEST_TYPE_STRING "MD5"
 # define DIGEST_STREAM md5_stream
 # define DIGEST_BITS 128
 # define DIGEST_REFERENCE "RFC 1321"
 # define DIGEST_ALIGN 4
 #elif HASH_ALGO_SHA1
-# define PROGRAM_NAME "sha1sum"
+# define PROGRAM_NAME "sha1"
 # define DIGEST_TYPE_STRING "SHA1"
 # define DIGEST_STREAM sha1_stream
 # define DIGEST_BITS 160
 # define DIGEST_REFERENCE "FIPS-180-1"
 # define DIGEST_ALIGN 4
 #elif HASH_ALGO_SHA256
-# define PROGRAM_NAME "sha256sum"
+# define PROGRAM_NAME "sha256"
 # define DIGEST_TYPE_STRING "SHA256"
 # define DIGEST_STREAM sha256_stream
 # define DIGEST_BITS 256
 # define DIGEST_REFERENCE "FIPS-180-2"
 # define DIGEST_ALIGN 4
 #elif HASH_ALGO_SHA224
-# define PROGRAM_NAME "sha224sum"
+# define PROGRAM_NAME "sha224"
 # define DIGEST_TYPE_STRING "SHA224"
 # define DIGEST_STREAM sha224_stream
 # define DIGEST_BITS 224
 # define DIGEST_REFERENCE "RFC 3874"
 # define DIGEST_ALIGN 4
 #elif HASH_ALGO_SHA512
-# define PROGRAM_NAME "sha512sum"
+# define PROGRAM_NAME "sha512"
 # define DIGEST_TYPE_STRING "SHA512"
 # define DIGEST_STREAM sha512_stream
 # define DIGEST_BITS 512
 # define DIGEST_REFERENCE "FIPS-180-2"
 # define DIGEST_ALIGN 8
 #elif HASH_ALGO_SHA384
-# define PROGRAM_NAME "sha384sum"
+# define PROGRAM_NAME "sha384"
 # define DIGEST_TYPE_STRING "SHA384"
 # define DIGEST_STREAM sha384_stream
 # define DIGEST_BITS 384
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@
 {
   { "binary", no_argument, NULL, 'b' },
   { "check", no_argument, NULL, 'c' },
+  { "full", no_argument, NULL, 'f' },
   { "quiet", no_argument, NULL, QUIET_OPTION },
   { "status", no_argument, NULL, STATUS_OPTION },
   { "text", no_argument, NULL, 't' },
@@ -184,6 +185,9 @@
       fputs (_("\
       --tag            create a BSD-style checksum\n\
 "), stdout);
+      printf (_("\
+  -f, --full           prints the checksum and file name\n\
+"));
       if (O_BINARY)
         fputs (_("\
   -t, --text           read in text mode (default if reading tty stdin)\n\
@@ -696,6 +700,7 @@
   int opt;
   bool ok = true;
   int binary = -1;
+  bool prefix_short = true;
   bool prefix_tag = false;
 
   /* Setting values of global variables.  */
@@ -711,7 +716,7 @@
      so that processes running in parallel do not intersperse their output.  */
   setvbuf (stdout, NULL, _IOLBF, 0);
 
-  while ((opt = getopt_long (argc, argv, "bctw", long_options, NULL)) != -1)
+  while ((opt = getopt_long (argc, argv, "bcftw", long_options, NULL)) != -1)
     switch (opt)
       {
       case 'b':
@@ -733,6 +738,9 @@
         warn = true;
         quiet = false;
         break;
+      case 'f':
+        prefix_short = false;
+        break;
       case QUIET_OPTION:
         status_only = false;
         warn = false;
@@ -836,7 +844,7 @@
                  output in this case.  */
               bool needs_escape = strchr (file, '\\') || strchr (file, '\n');
 
-              if (prefix_tag)
+              if (prefix_tag && !prefix_short)
                 {
                   if (needs_escape)
                     putchar ('\\');
@@ -847,17 +855,23 @@
                   fputs (") = ", stdout);
                 }
 
+              if (prefix_short && !prefix_tag)
+                {
+                  if (needs_escape)
+                    putchar ('\\');
+                }
+
               size_t i;
 
               /* Output a leading backslash if the file name contains
                  a newline or backslash.  */
-              if (!prefix_tag && needs_escape)
+              if (!prefix_tag && !prefix_short && needs_escape)
                 putchar ('\\');
 
               for (i = 0; i < (digest_hex_bytes / 2); ++i)
                 printf ("%02x", bin_buffer[i]);
 
-              if (!prefix_tag)
+              if (!prefix_tag && !prefix_short)
                 {
                   putchar (' ');
 
--- a/man/md5sum.x
+++ b/man/md5sum.x
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 [NAME]
-md5sum \- compute and check MD5 message digest
+md5 \- compute and check MD5 message digest
 [DESCRIPTION]
 .\" Add any additional description here
 [BUGS]
 The MD5 algorithm should not be used any more for security related purposes.
 Instead, better use an SHA\-2 algorithm, implemented in the programs
-sha224sum(1), sha256sum(1), sha384sum(1), sha512sum(1)
+sha224(1), sha256(1), sha384(1), sha512(1)
--- a/man/sha1sum.x
+++ b/man/sha1sum.x
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 [NAME]
-sha1sum \- compute and check SHA1 message digest
+sha1 \- compute and check SHA1 message digest
 [DESCRIPTION]
 .\" Add any additional description here
--- a/man/sha224sum.x
+++ b/man/sha224sum.x
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 [NAME]
-sha224sum \- compute and check SHA224 message digest
+sha224 \- compute and check SHA224 message digest
 [DESCRIPTION]
 .\" Add any additional description here
--- a/man/sha256sum.x
+++ b/man/sha256sum.x
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 [NAME]
-sha256sum \- compute and check SHA256 message digest
+sha256 \- compute and check SHA256 message digest
 [DESCRIPTION]
 .\" Add any additional description here
--- a/man/sha384sum.x
+++ b/man/sha384sum.x
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 [NAME]
-sha384sum \- compute and check SHA384 message digest
+sha384 \- compute and check SHA384 message digest
 [DESCRIPTION]
 .\" Add any additional description here
--- a/man/sha512sum.x
+++ b/man/sha512sum.x
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 [NAME]
-sha512sum \- compute and check SHA512 message digest
+sha512 \- compute and check SHA512 message digest
 [DESCRIPTION]
 .\" Add any additional description here