diff --git a/libite/lite.h b/libite/lite.h
index 37886a2e..96ce69b1 100644
--- a/libite/lite.h
+++ b/libite/lite.h
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/param.h> /* MAX(), isset(), setbit(), TRUE, FALSE, et consortes. :-) */
 #include <unistd.h>
 
 int     fexist     (char *file);
@@ -60,6 +61,35 @@ static inline int fisslashdir(char *dir)
                          return 0;
 }
 
+
+/* Validate string, non NULL and not zero length */
+static inline int string_valid (const char *s)
+{
+   return s && strlen (s);
+}
+
+/* Relaxed comparison, e.g., sys_string_match("small", "smaller") => TRUE */
+static inline int string_match (const char *a, const char *b)
+{
+   size_t min = MIN(strlen (a), strlen (b));
+
+   return !strncasecmp (a, b, min);
+}
+
+/* Strict comparison, e.g., sys_string_match("small", "smaller") => FALSE */
+static inline int string_compare (const char *a, const char *b)
+{
+   return strlen (a) == strlen (b) && !strcmp (a, b);
+}
+
+/* Strict comparison, like sys_string_compare(), but case insensitive,
+ * e.g., sys_string_match("small", "SmAlL") => TRUE
+ */
+static inline int string_case_compare (const char *a, const char *b)
+{
+   return strlen (a) == strlen (b) && !strcasecmp (a, b);
+}
+
 #endif /* FINIT_LITE_H_ */
 
 /**