Posix says we should execute the command as if run by system(3) Expect 'Hello,' and 'World!' Hello, World! a command a command prefixed by '+' executes even with -n another command make -n echo a command echo "a command prefixed by '+' executes even with -n" a command prefixed by '+' executes even with -n echo another command make -n -j1 { echo a command } || exit $? echo "a command prefixed by '+' executes even with -n" a command prefixed by '+' executes even with -n { echo another command } || exit $? Now we expect an error... *** Error code 1 (continuing) `all' not remade because of errors. exit status 0