@grwlf, thanks for your PR! By analyzing the annotation information on this pull request, we identified @edolstra, @nbp and @urkud to be potential reviewers

Looking at nixpkgs there are more instances where writeShellScript could be used instead of the specialized form, which installs scripts to bin.

So do we want to integrate this?

I just noticed that this now has the checkPhase suggested by @nbp. I've tested it locally and it works fine, but seeing as it changes writeTextFile I wonder about the rebuild impact of this change?

Also, I notice that it no longer puts the resulting script under $out/bin, which somewhat disagrees with how other *Bin builders work.

@joachifm , I fixed the /bin/${name} location in the build expression.
Regarding the massive rebuild, unfortunately, yes, it will take place. Looks like we should make a choice: either add checkPhase to the writeTextFile or stick with the 2-staged expression I posted originally:

  # Create a Shell script, check its syntax
  writeShellScriptBin = name : text :
    let
      s = writeScriptBin name ''
        #!${stdenv.shell}
        ${text}
      '';
    in
      runCommand name {} ''
        ${stdenv.shell} -n ${s}/bin/${name}
        cp -v -r ${s} $out
      '';

I there is a compromise, please let me know.

Ah, the rebuild is not a problem per se, if we want this change we can put it into staging. Preferably along with some other change that'd also require a mass rebuild.

OK.
Travis build log looks unrelated to the patch. Should I do anything more on this topic before the merge?

Applied in f49c2fb thank you!