diff --git a/util/fluxbox-generate_menu.in b/util/fluxbox-generate_menu.in
index d319098d..b00db10c 100755
--- a/util/fluxbox-generate_menu.in
+++ b/util/fluxbox-generate_menu.in
@@ -35,9 +35,11 @@
 # - don't use id -u or $UID, use whoami
 # - getopts won't work on all platforms, but the config-file can
 #   compensate for that.
-# - OpenBSD and Solaris grep do not have the -m option
+# - OpenBSD and Solaris grep do not have the -m or -q options
 # - various software like grep/sed/perl may be not present or not
 #   the version you have. for example grep '\W' only works on gnu-grep.
+# - echo can lack several flags (notably -n) and might default to absent -e
+#   In doubt, use printf
 #   Keep this in mind, use bare basic defaults.
 # - Do _NOT_ suggest to use #!/bin/bash. Not everybody uses bash.
 #   Non portable features like getopts in this script can be achieved in
@@ -186,7 +188,6 @@ convertIcon(){
         return 0;
     fi
 
-    local BASENAME
     BASENAME="${1##*/}"
 
     # make sure it is an icon by checking if it has an extension
@@ -246,7 +247,7 @@ removePath(){
 
 doSearchLoop(){
     for ICONPATH in "$@"; do
-        ## $dnlamVERBOSE ": $ICONPATH" >> $ICONMAPPING
+        # $dnlamVERBOSE ": $ICONPATH" >> $ICONMAPPING
           [ -d "$ICONPATH" ] || continue
         #echo -n "."
         # # $dnlamVERBOSE ":: $ICONPATH/$temp_icon" >> $ICONMAPPING
@@ -257,7 +258,7 @@ doSearchLoop(){
             # remove extension
             iconNOext="${temp_icon%%.*}"
             [ -d "$ICONPATH" ] && for ICONEXT in .xpm .png .gif ; do
-                ## echo "::: $ICONPATH/$iconNOext$ICONEXT" >> $ICONMAPPING
+                # echo "::: $ICONPATH/$iconNOext$ICONEXT" >> $ICONMAPPING
                 realpath=`find "$ICONPATH" -type f -name "$iconNOext$ICONEXT" | head -n 1`
                 if [ -n "$realpath" ]; then
                     echo $realpath
@@ -345,7 +346,7 @@ searchForIcon(){
     # echo "^.${entry_exec}.[[:space:]]*<.*/${icon_base}\....>" 
     if [ -f "$entry_icon" ]; then
     # if icon exists and entry does not already exists, add it
-        if ! grep -q -m 1 "^.${execname}.[[:space:]]*<.*/${icon_base}\....>" $ICONMAPPING 2> /dev/null; then
+        if ! grep "^.${execname}.[[:space:]]*<.*/${icon_base}\....>" $ICONMAPPING > /dev/null 2>&1; then
             printf "\"${execname}\" \t <${entry_icon}>\n" >> $ICONMAPPING
         else 
             : echo "#    mapping already exists for ${execname}" >> $ICONMAPPING
@@ -417,7 +418,7 @@ lookupIcon() {
     fi
 
     if [ -z "$iconString" ] && [ -z "$PARSING_DESKTOP" ] ; then
-        ## $dnlamVERBOSE "lookupIcon: Searching ...  should only be needed for icons not gotten from *.desktop (manual-created ones): $execname" >&2
+        # $dnlamVERBOSE "lookupIcon: Searching ...  should only be needed for icons not gotten from *.desktop (manual-created ones): $execname" >&2
         searchForIcon "$execname" "$execname"
         [ -n "$entry_icon" ] && iconString="<$entry_icon>"
     fi
@@ -432,7 +433,7 @@ append() {
         iconString="`echo $* | grep -o '<.*>'`"
         # echo "iconString=$iconString" >&2
         if [ -z "$iconString" ] && [ -z "$NO_ICON" ]; then
-            echo -n "      $* " >> ${MENUFILENAME}
+            printf "      $* " >> ${MENUFILENAME}
             # get the program name between '{}' from parameters            
             execname="$*"
             execname=${execname#*\{}
@@ -576,7 +577,7 @@ WHOAMI=`whoami`
 [ "$WHOAMI" = root ] && PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin
 
 # Check for Imlib2-support
-if @pkgprefix@fluxbox@pkgsuffix@@EXEEXT@ -info 2> /dev/null | grep -q "^IMLIB"; then
+if @pkgprefix@fluxbox@pkgsuffix@@EXEEXT@ -info 2> /dev/null | grep "^IMLIB" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     PNG_ICONS="yes"
 else
     # better assume to assume "no"
@@ -1473,7 +1474,7 @@ if [ -z "${INSTALL}" ] && [ -z "${NO_ICON}" ]; then
 
     checkDirs(){
         #echo checkDirs: $* >&2
-        local CHECKED_DIRS=""
+        CHECKED_DIRS=""
         for DIR in "$@"; do
             if [ -d "$DIR" ]; then
                 # todo: should check if there are duplicates