diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index ac804c33..7baee727 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@ byobu (5.8) unreleased; urgency=low
     - move wifi_quality to second right status
   * usr/bin/byobu-status, usr/lib/byobu/include/constants:
     - use printf instead of echo, saves a few forks
+  * usr/lib/byobu/cpu_freq, usr/lib/byobu/cpu_temp,
+    usr/lib/byobu/custom, usr/lib/byobu/date, usr/lib/byobu/disk_io,
+    usr/lib/byobu/ec2_cost, usr/lib/byobu/logo, usr/lib/byobu/network,
+    usr/lib/byobu/rcs_cost, usr/lib/byobu/time_binary:
+    - use printf where possible, saves some forks
 
  -- Dustin Kirkland <kirkland@ubuntu.com>  Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:12:49 -0600
 
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/cpu_freq b/usr/lib/byobu/cpu_freq
index bc71d4ff..3d16e8cf 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/cpu_freq
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/cpu_freq
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ __cpu_freq() {
 			# Must scale frequency by number of processors, if counting bogomips
 			count=$(getconf _NPROCESSORS_ONLN 2>/dev/null || grep -ci "^processor" /proc/cpuinfo)
 			freq=$(egrep -i -m 1 "^bogomips" /proc/cpuinfo | awk -F"[:.]" '{ print $2 }')
-			freq=$(echo "$freq" "$count" | awk '{printf "%01.1f\n", $1/$2/1000}')
+			freq=$(printf "%s %s" "$freq" "$count" | awk '{printf "%01.1f\n", $1/$2/1000}')
 		fi
 	fi
 	color b c W; printf "%s" "$freq"; color -; color c W; printf "%s" "$ICON_GHz"; color --
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/cpu_temp b/usr/lib/byobu/cpu_temp
index 8dbdfed6..7f49c8e0 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/cpu_temp
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/cpu_temp
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ __cpu_temp_detail() {
 	local i
 	for i in $MONITORED_TEMP /sys/class/hwmon/hwmon*/temp*_input /sys/class/hwmon/hwmon*/device/temp*_input /proc/acpi/ibm/thermal /proc/acpi/thermal_zone/*/temperature; do
 		[ -r "$i" ] || continue
-		echo "$i:"
+		printf "%s\n" "$i:"
 		cat "$i"/*
 	done
 }
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/custom b/usr/lib/byobu/custom
index 0a61d9d6..1cff5d64 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/custom
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/custom
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ __custom() {
 		local expiration=$(($lastrun+$freq))
 		if [ $now -ge $expiration ]; then
 			"$i" > "$cache.$script" 2>/dev/null
-			echo "${now}" > "$cache.$script.last"
+			printf "%s\n" "${now}" > "$cache.$script.last"
 		fi
 		readfile < "$cache.$script"
 		local str="${_RET}"
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/date b/usr/lib/byobu/date
index 93e92a50..46851675 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/date
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/date
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ __date() {
 		;;
 		screen)
 			bd=$(date "+%m%d")
-			[ "$bd" = "0320" ] && msg="$(echo SGFwcHkgQmlydGhkYXkgU2NyZWVuIC0tIGh0dHA6Ly9iaXQubHkvc2NyZWVuLWJkYXkK | base64 -di)" && $BYOBU_BACKEND -X -S "byobu" at "*" echo "[$msg]"
+			[ "$bd" = "0320" ] && msg="$(printf "%s" SGFwcHkgQmlydGhkYXkgU2NyZWVuIC0tIGh0dHA6Ly9iaXQubHkvc2NyZWVuLWJkYXkK | base64 -di)" && $BYOBU_BACKEND -X -S "byobu" at "*" echo "[$msg]"
 			color none; printf "\005Y-\005m-\005d"; color --
 		;;
 	esac
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/disk_io b/usr/lib/byobu/disk_io
index dc08c1d6..464b2eff 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/disk_io
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/disk_io
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ __disk_io_detail() {
 	if command -v iostat >/dev/null; then
 		iostat -d -m -h
 	else
-		echo "Please install iostat if you want detailed information on your disk throughput"
+		printf "%s\n" "Please install iostat if you want detailed information on your disk throughput"
 	fi
 }
 
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ __disk_io() {
 				symbol="$ICON_WR"
 				x2="$a7"
 			fi
-			echo "$x2" > "$cache"
+			printf "%s" "$x2" > "$cache"
 			rate=$((($x2 - $x1) / ($t2 - $t1) * 512 / 1024))
 			if [ $rate -lt $DISK_IO_THRESHOLD ]; then
 				# Below threshold, don't print
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/ec2_cost b/usr/lib/byobu/ec2_cost
index 43e2d4cb..9ddc980e 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/ec2_cost
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/ec2_cost
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ __ec2_cost() {
 			rate=$m1_large
 		else
 			# Otherwise, scale based on number of cpu's (c* types)
-			rate=$(echo "$cpu" "$m1_small" | awk '{printf "%f", $1*$2}')
+			rate=$(printf "%s %s" "$cpu" "$m1_small" | awk '{printf "%f", $1*$2}')
 		fi
 	fi
 	hours=$(((`date +%s` - `stat --printf %Y $file_to_stat`) / 60 / 60 + 1))
@@ -95,12 +95,12 @@ __ec2_cost() {
 			break
 		fi
 	done < /proc/net/dev
-	tx_gb=$(echo ${tx_gb} | awk '{ printf "%f", $1 / 1024 / 1024 / 1024 }')
-	rx_gb=$(echo ${rx_gb} | awk '{ printf "%f", $1 / 1024 / 1024 / 1024 }')
-	network_cost=`echo "$tx_gb" "$TX_RATE" "$rx_gb" "$RX_RATE" | awk '{printf "%f %f", $1*$2, $3*$4}' | awk '{printf "%f", $1 + $2}'`
+	tx_gb=$(printf "%s" ${tx_gb} | awk '{ printf "%f", $1 / 1024 / 1024 / 1024 }')
+	rx_gb=$(printf "%s" ${rx_gb} | awk '{ printf "%f", $1 / 1024 / 1024 / 1024 }')
+	network_cost=`printf "%s %s %s %s" "$tx_gb" "$TX_RATE" "$rx_gb" "$RX_RATE" | awk '{printf "%f %f", $1*$2, $3*$4}' | awk '{printf "%f", $1 + $2}'`
 	# Calculate uptime cost
-	uptime_cost=`echo "$hours" | awk "{printf \"%f\", "$rate" * $hours}"`
-	total_cost=`echo "$network_cost" "$uptime_cost" | awk '{printf "%.2f", $1 + $2}'`
+	uptime_cost=`printf "%s" "$hours" | awk "{printf \"%f\", "$rate" * $hours}"`
+	total_cost=`printf "%s %s" "$network_cost" "$uptime_cost" | awk '{printf "%.2f", $1 + $2}'`
 	if [ "$DETAIL" = "1" ]; then
 		echo "================================================"
 		echo "Estimated cost in Amazon's EC2 since last reboot"
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ __ec2_cost() {
 		echo "  Network sent:  $tx_gb GB   @ \$$RX_RATE/GB"
 		echo "  Network recv:  $rx_gb GB   @ \$$TX_RATE/GB"
 		echo "  Network cost:  \$$network_cost"
-			echo "------------------------------------------------"
+		echo "------------------------------------------------"
 		echo "  Uptime:        $hours hr  @ \$$rate/hr"
 		echo "  Uptime cost:   \$$uptime_cost"
 		echo "------------------------------------------------"
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/logo b/usr/lib/byobu/logo
index 0596d6e5..b10abb12 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/logo
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/logo
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ __logo() {
 		return
 	fi
 	get_distro
-	local distro="$(echo "$_RET" | $BYOBU_SED 'y/ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ/abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz/')"
+	local distro="$(printf "%s" "$_RET" | $BYOBU_SED 'y/ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ/abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz/')"
 	case "$distro" in
 		*ubuntu*)
 			if $MARKUP; then
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/network b/usr/lib/byobu/network
index c2398290..6be4eebb 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/network
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/network
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ __network() {
 				;;
 			esac
 		done < /proc/net/dev
-		echo "$x2" > "$cache"
+		printf "%s" "$x2" > "$cache"
 		rate=$((8*($x2 - $x1) / $t / 1024))  # in kbps
 		[ "$rate" -lt 0 ] && rate=0
 		if [ $rate -gt $NETWORK_THRESHOLD ]; then
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/rcs_cost b/usr/lib/byobu/rcs_cost
index db0ba73c..bc55dc8a 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/rcs_cost
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/rcs_cost
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ __rcs_cost() {
 	for X in ${INCREMENTS}; do
 		test "$((${X} * 1024 + 65536))" -ge ${memory} && break
 	done
-	MEMORY_RATE=`echo "$X" | awk '{printf "%f", $1 / 256 * 15 / 1000}'`
+	MEMORY_RATE=`printf "%s" "$X" | awk '{printf "%f", $1 / 256 * 15 / 1000}'`
 
 	# Data Transfer Cost Basis
 	# Incoming      $0.08/GB
@@ -65,15 +65,15 @@ __rcs_cost() {
 
 	# Calculate bandwidth cost
 	tx_gb=${ifconfig_out#*RX bytes:}
-	tx_gb=$(echo ${tx_gb%% *} | awk '{ printf "%f", $1 / 1024 / 1024 / 1024 }')
+	tx_gb=$(printf "%s" ${tx_gb%% *} | awk '{ printf "%f", $1 / 1024 / 1024 / 1024 }')
 	rx_gb=${ifconfig_out#*TX bytes:}
-	rx_gb=$(echo ${rx_gb%% *} | awk '{ printf "%f", $1 / 1024 / 1024 / 1024 }')
-	network_cost=`echo "$tx_gb" "$TX_RATE" "$rx_gb" "$RX_RATE" | awk '{printf "%f %f", $1*$2, $3*$4}' | awk '{printf "%f", $1 + $2}'`
+	rx_gb=$(printf "%s" ${rx_gb%% *} | awk '{ printf "%f", $1 / 1024 / 1024 / 1024 }')
+	network_cost=`printf "%s" "$tx_gb" "$TX_RATE" "$rx_gb" "$RX_RATE" | awk '{printf "%f %f", $1*$2, $3*$4}' | awk '{printf "%f", $1 + $2}'`
 
 	# Calculate uptime cost
 	hours=$(((`date +%s` - `stat --printf %Z /etc/hostname`) / 60 / 60 + 1))
-	uptime_cost=`echo "$hours" | awk "{printf \"%f\", "$MEMORY_RATE" * $hours}"`
-	total_cost=`echo "$network_cost" "$uptime_cost" | awk '{printf "%.2f", $1 + $2}'`
+	uptime_cost=`printf "%s" "$hours" | awk "{printf \"%f\", "$MEMORY_RATE" * $hours}"`
+	total_cost=`printf "%s %s" "$network_cost" "$uptime_cost" | awk '{printf "%.2f", $1 + $2}'`
 
 	if [ "$DETAIL" = "1" ]; then
 		echo "=========================================================="
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/time_binary b/usr/lib/byobu/time_binary
index 8b3967e1..e039637e 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/time_binary
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/time_binary
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ done
 
 if [ -z "$clock_type" ]
 then
-  echo "ERROR: must specify clock type"
+  printf "%s\n" "ERROR: must specify clock type"
   exit 1
 fi
 
@@ -169,5 +169,5 @@ else
   display_time="${hh}${sep}${hm}${hs}${ending}"
 fi
 
-echo -ne "$display_time"
+printf "%s" "$display_time"
 exit 0