On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 09:33:13 -0600, Ed Morton wrote:
[...]
>> printf is a standard Unix command so should be in those Unices
>> where /bin/sh is still a
>> non-standard/deprecated/old-fashioned/you-name-it Bourne shell.
>
> Just because printf exists doesn't mean you can't be happy using echo.
[...]

Sure, but you need to beware that echo is unreliable and
unportable. Especially, there's no guarantee of the behavior if
its arguments start with "-" or contain backslash characters.

So I think it's good practice to systematically replace it with
"printf" which doesn't have those issues.

--
Stephane