POSIX-ly correct shell-only implementation of `dirname` (http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/dirname.html).

dirname.sh

#!/bin/sh

p=$1
alt=$2
skip78=

stripslashes() {
    i=$1
    while [ "$i" != "$o" ]; do
        o=$i
        i=${i%/}
    done
    eval "$2=\$i"
}

[ "$p" = '//' ] || {
    case "$p" in
        *[!/]*|'')
            stripslashes "$p" p
            case "$p" in
                */*)
                    p=${p%/*}
                    ;;
                *)
                    p=.
                    skip78=skip78
                    ;;
            esac
            ;;
        *)
            p=/
            skip78=skip78
            ;;
    esac
}
[ -n "$skip78" ] || {
    { [ "$p" != '//' ] || [ -z "$alt" ]; } && {
        stripslashes "$p" p
        : "${p:=/}"
    }
}

printf -- %s\\n "$p"