diff --git a/NPLib/scripts/buildliblist.sh b/NPLib/scripts/buildliblist.sh
index eeddcd7281559a33e8c5bf50e72b9554a4897965..9cc13c3f942759cbcc3953aedf1bcba4a2d5baad 100755
--- a/NPLib/scripts/buildliblist.sh
+++ b/NPLib/scripts/buildliblist.sh
@@ -27,18 +27,18 @@ echo " + Creating liblist file....."
 outfile="liblist"
 
 # if output file exists delete it
-if [ -e $outfile ] ; then 
-   rm $outfile 
-fi ;
+#if [ -e $outfile ] ; then 
+#   rm $outfile 
+#fi ;
 
 # create output file
-echo "#! /bin/bash" >> $outfile
-echo "#" >> $outfile
-echo "# WARNING:" >> $outfile
-echo "#    This file is automatically generated when NPLib libraries are built through the make command." >> $outfile
-echo "#    If you modify this file by hand, changes won't persist the next time you compile NPLib." >> $outfile
-echo "#" >> $outfile
-echo "echo -L$NPTOOL/NPLib/lib \\" >> $outfile
+printf "#! /bin/bash\n" > $outfile
+printf "#\n" >> $outfile
+printf "# WARNING:\n" >> $outfile
+printf "#    This file is automatically generated when NPLib libraries are built through the make command.\n" >> $outfile
+printf "#    If you modify this file by hand, changes won't persist the next time you compile NPLib.\n" >> $outfile
+printf "#\n" >> $outfile
+printf "echo -L$NPTOOL/NPLib/lib" >> $outfile
 chmod a+x $outfile
 
 # loop on *.so files in lib/ directory
@@ -48,11 +48,7 @@ do
       # remove .so extension
       name=${file%\.*}
       # replace "lib/lib" pattern by "-l"
-      name=$(echo $name | sed -e "s/lib\/lib/-l/g")
-      # add trailing \
-      name="$name \\"
-      # add tab at the beginning
-      name=$(echo "\011 $name")
-      echo "\011 $name" >> $outfile
+      name=$(printf $name | sed -e "s/lib\/lib/-l/g")
+      printf " $name " >> $outfile
    fi ;
 done
diff --git a/NPLib/scripts/makefile.sh b/NPLib/scripts/makefile.sh
index 8a2120d1e49aad84319b2cbe3ef14b5285035293..21c6f7b66f2f28cfe3fc23ed5f20fa85fa37597b 100755
--- a/NPLib/scripts/makefile.sh
+++ b/NPLib/scripts/makefile.sh
@@ -27,9 +27,9 @@
 #! /bin/bash
 
 if [ $# = 0 ] ; then
-   echo " + Building detector libraries....."
+   printf " + Building detector libraries.....\n"
 else
-   echo " + Cleaning $2 libraries....."
+   printf " + Cleaning $2 libraries.....\n"
 fi ;
 
 # read .detector_libs or .core_libs file created by the configure script
@@ -47,9 +47,9 @@ do
    # file name in lower case
    lname=$(echo "$name"  | tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]')
    # only build defined detector libraries
-   if echo "$detectorlibs" | grep -q "$lname" ; then
+   if printf  "$detectorlibs" | grep -q "$lname" ; then
       # print informations
-      echo "\011Entering $name directory..."
+      printf "\tEntering $name directory...\n"
       # add "-C ./" pattern at the beginning of the name
       cmd="-C ./$name"
       # execute make command with target specified on command line
diff --git a/NPLib/scripts/makefile_detector.sh b/NPLib/scripts/makefile_detector.sh
index 9c650d3b6d6c496559a8c0658081f9c48e32efae..814a766ca8bfdebbacc775924a66cbdc1b3370ea 100755
--- a/NPLib/scripts/makefile_detector.sh
+++ b/NPLib/scripts/makefile_detector.sh
@@ -28,19 +28,19 @@
 
 
 # build message 
-echo -e "\t@echo \"Entering $1 directory...\"" >> $2
+printf  "\t@echo \"Entering $1 directory...\"" >> $2
 # execute make command with target specified on command line
-echo -e "\tmake --silent -C ./$1" >> $2
+printf  "\tmake --silent -C ./$1" >> $2
 # copy header files
-echo -e "\tcd $1; cp -f *.h ../include" >> $2
+printf  "\tcd $1; cp -f *.h ../include" >> $2
 # remove *Dict header files
-echo -e "\tcd include; rm *Dict.h" >> $2
+printf  "\tcd include; rm *Dict.h" >> $2
 # copy library files
-echo -e "\tcd $1; cp -f *.so ../lib" >> $2
+printf  "\tcd $1; cp -f *.so ../lib" >> $2
 # deal with mac osx dylib files
 #echo "ifeq (\$(findstring macosx, \$(ARCH)), macosx)" >> $2
 #echo "\t@echo \"to be done\""
 #echo "endif" >> $2
 # newline
-echo "" >> $2
+printf "" >> $2