Which check does it actually execute? The readyState or the scroll test. The last one isn't included in the minus-ie8 build.

@arian good point. Did some more tests in Travis and in a IE8 VM using:

if (shouldPoll) poll();
checks.each(function(chk){
    alert(chk + '');
});
if (!ready) check();

and all cases showed the document.readyState test function is tested first.
I tested also removing that IE8 block on Travis and it passed in all Browsers.
It looks clean in that way.

We could import some more tests from the old PHP file if it feels like we are missing something, since the IE8 block seems redundant to these specs.

for the old php file, bear in mind the original case scenario which I described here:

http://webreflection.blogspot.co.uk/2006/09/too-much-simple-domcontentloaded.html?showComment=1158586140000#c115858618235493470

It would be possible to simulate the php flush using a simple write in nodejs like in this stackoverflow question:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/16184103/how-to-flush-chunks-of-arbitrary-sizes-in-nodejs

also I think the fix should be done here https://github.com/SergioCrisostomo/mootools-core/blob/fix-2682/Source/Utilities/DOMReady.js#L76 basically if the event is supported we have to check if the document readystate is completed, if it is, we can just run the domready

not a fan of abbreviated variable names. code should be readable; let the minimizer worry about brevity. So, callback here.

reading a big more I see this is the spec file, so I'm less pedantic about it... can leave it.