diff --git a/cdist/conf/explorer/cpu_sockets b/cdist/conf/explorer/cpu_sockets
index 903cc743..2d577043 100755
--- a/cdist/conf/explorer/cpu_sockets
+++ b/cdist/conf/explorer/cpu_sockets
@@ -30,9 +30,9 @@ case "$os" in
 
     *)
     if [ -r /proc/cpuinfo ]; then
-        sockets="$(grep "physical id" /proc/cpuinfo | sort | uniq | wc -l)"
+        sockets="$(grep "physical id" /proc/cpuinfo | sort -u | wc -l)"
         if [ ${sockets} -eq 0 ]; then
-            sockets="$(cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep "processor" | wc -l)"
+            sockets="$(grep -c "processor" /proc/cpuinfo)"
         fi
         echo "${sockets}"
     fi
diff --git a/cdist/conf/explorer/machine_type b/cdist/conf/explorer/machine_type
index 3b4f0308..3a3cd0c1 100755
--- a/cdist/conf/explorer/machine_type
+++ b/cdist/conf/explorer/machine_type
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ if [ -d "/proc/vz" -a ! -d "/proc/bc" ]; then
 fi
 
 if [ -e "/proc/1/environ" ] &&
-    cat "/proc/1/environ" | tr '\000' '\n' | grep -Eiq '^container='; then
+    tr '\000' '\n' < "/proc/1/environ" | grep -Eiq '^container='; then
     echo lxc
     exit
 fi
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__ccollect_source/manifest b/cdist/conf/type/__ccollect_source/manifest
index 238c7e76..26c6cc99 100755
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__ccollect_source/manifest
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__ccollect_source/manifest
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ name="$__object_id"
 state="$(cat "$__object/parameter/state")"
 source="$(cat "$__object/parameter/source")"
 destination="$(cat "$__object/parameter/destination")"
-ccollectconf="$(cat "$__object/parameter/ccollectconf" | sed 's,/$,,')"
+ccollectconf="$(sed 's,/$,,' "$__object/parameter/ccollectconf")"
 
 sourcedir="$ccollectconf/sources"
 basedir="$sourcedir/$name"
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__consul/gencode-remote b/cdist/conf/type/__consul/gencode-remote
index 22e9eea1..1d2244ea 100755
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__consul/gencode-remote
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__consul/gencode-remote
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ version_dir="$versions_dir/$version"
 
 source=$(cat "$version_dir/source")
 source_file_name="${source##*/}"
-cksum_should=$(cat "$version_dir/cksum" | cut -d' ' -f1,2)
+cksum_should=$(cut -d' ' -f1,2 "$version_dir/cksum")
 
 cat << eof
     tmpdir=\$(mktemp -d --tmpdir="/tmp" "${__type##*/}.XXXXXXXXXX")
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__golang_from_vendor/gencode-remote b/cdist/conf/type/__golang_from_vendor/gencode-remote
index 1654978b..5200e9e3 100755
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__golang_from_vendor/gencode-remote
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__golang_from_vendor/gencode-remote
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 version=$(cat "$__object/parameter/version")
 
-kernel_name=$(cat "$__global/explorer/kernel_name" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
+kernel_name=$(tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' < "$__global/explorer/kernel_name")
 machine=$(cat "$__global/explorer/machine")
 case $machine in
 	x86_64|amd64)
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__ssh_authorized_key/explorer/entry b/cdist/conf/type/__ssh_authorized_key/explorer/entry
index 1535d348..157d70f1 100755
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__ssh_authorized_key/explorer/entry
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__ssh_authorized_key/explorer/entry
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 #
 
 # extract the keytype and base64 encoded key ignoring any options and comment
-type_and_key="$(cat "$__object/parameter/key" | tr ' ' '\n' | awk '/^(ssh|ecdsa)-[^ ]+/ { printf $1" "; getline; printf $1 }')"
+type_and_key="$(tr ' ' '\n' < "$__object/parameter/key"| awk '/^(ssh|ecdsa)-[^ ]+/ { printf $1" "; getline; printf $1 }')"
 # If type_and_key is empty, which is the case with an invalid key, do not grep $file because it results
 # in greping everything in file and all entries from file are removed.
 if [ -n "${type_and_key}" ]
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__ssh_authorized_key/gencode-remote b/cdist/conf/type/__ssh_authorized_key/gencode-remote
index 7ded7dc6..333dfa03 100755
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__ssh_authorized_key/gencode-remote
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__ssh_authorized_key/gencode-remote
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ mkdir "$__object/files"
 (
    if [ -f "$__object/parameter/option" ]; then
       # comma seperated list of options
-      options="$(cat "$__object/parameter/option" | tr '\n' ',')"
+      options="$(tr '\n' ',' < "$__object/parameter/option")"
       printf '%s ' "${options%*,}"
    fi
    if [ -f "$__object/parameter/comment" ]; then
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/gencode-local b/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/gencode-local
index 8e2003af..18bf09f5 100755
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/gencode-local
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__staged_file/gencode-local
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ fetch_and_prepare_file() {
 cat << DONE
 verify_cksum() {
    cksum_is="\$(cksum "$stage_file" | cut -d' ' -f1,2)"
-   cksum_should="$(cat "$__object/parameter/cksum" | cut -d' ' -f1,2)"
+   cksum_should="$(cut -d' ' -f1,2 "$__object/parameter/cksum")"
    if [ "\$cksum_is" = "\$cksum_should" ]; then
       return 0
    else
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__zypper_service/gencode-remote b/cdist/conf/type/__zypper_service/gencode-remote
index e5b41cc6..955698d1 100755
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__zypper_service/gencode-remote
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__zypper_service/gencode-remote
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ exp_uri="$(cat "$__object/explorer/service_uri")"
 exp_id="$(cat "$__object/explorer/service_id")"
 
 # we need this list to remove ids, but we must do this in reverse order
-exp_ids="$(cat "$__object/explorer/service_ids" | rev)"
+exp_ids="$(rev "$__object/explorer/service_ids")"
 
 if [ "$uri" = "$exp_uri" ] ; then
     state_is="present"
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__zypper_service/manifest b/cdist/conf/type/__zypper_service/manifest
index e4f0bcf6..42a56830 100755
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__zypper_service/manifest
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__zypper_service/manifest
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ fi
 [ "$state_is" = "$state_should" ] && exit 0
 
 # we need this list to remove ids, but we must do this in reverse order
-exp_repos="$(cat "$__object/explorer/repo_ids" | rev)"
+exp_repos="$(rev "$__object/explorer/repo_ids")"
 
 # boolean parameter
 if [ -f "$__object/parameter/remove-all-repos" ]; then