In an attempt to finally end this article I start this new thread.
Here is a template for a safe and portable script.
#!/bin/bash
# /bin/bash exists on most still supported Unixes
#
# tr and date behave better with
if [ -n "$LC_ALL" ]; then export LC_ALL=C; else export LANG=C; fi
#
# Unix optional packages install in
opt_path=/usr/local/bin
solaris_opt_path=/usr/sfw/bin:/opt/csw/bin
#
# set PATH so no PATH is inherited, export it to all children
# Solaris is Posix-compliant in /usr/xpg4/bin and BSD-compliant in /usr/ucb
export PATH=/usr/xpg4/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/ucb:${opt_path}:${solaris_opt_path}
#
# HP-UX is Posix-compliant with
export UNIX95=
#
# GREP_OPTIONS can obscure GNU grep
unset GREP_OPTIONS
#
# LD_* can obscure external commands
unset LD_LIBRARY_PATH LD_PRELOAD
#
# no glob file-matching in command args and word lists (for loop)
set -f
#
# prefer builtin commands and use Posix-compliant options
# check with "shellcheck"
Ok this is my wisdom. Perhaps you want to add something from your wisdom?