- 'function fn_name\n{' breaks on older FreeBSD default shells, so use the more widely supported 'fn_name () {'. This needs more fixing.. - test for integers ought to use the proper operators - test for strings ought to use quoting of the strings to be fair to strange implementations of test(1) - make sure not to ignore return-codes != 0 from commands; Some shells exit immediately on this (much like explicitely requesting set -e in e.g. bash) TODO: *) Some older shells do not allow a space after the test-condition in an "if" statement. This doesn't work: if [ $status -ne 0 ] ; then as opposed to this: if [ $status -ne 0 ]; then or this if [ $status -ne 0 ] then *) strict spacing between commands. In some shells you have to say: foo ; bar ; baz The affected shells barf on stuff like ommitting the space, so this doesn't work: foo; bar ;baz *) $() vs. `` The former isn't really portable as opposed to the latter. *) fix frong assumption that the testsuite is run from the source-dir. This is a complete misconception and renders the testsuite completely useless. That said, i note that IMO a test-harness ought to do it's best to work in a wide variety of environments, everything else defeats it's purpose.