Re: Issue in man page getpt.3

G. Branden Robinson
2025-12-25T21:05:38Z

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Hi Alex,

At 2025-12-25T14:22:54+0100, Alejandro Colomar wrote:
> On Thu, Dec 25, 2025 at 02:20:39PM +0100, Alejandro Colomar wrote:
> > On Wed, Dec 24, 2025 at 02:38:26PM +0000, Helge Kreutzmann wrote:
> > > Without further ado, the following was found:
> > >
> > > Issue: multiplexor → multiplexer
> >
> > I see both used:
> >
> > $ grep -rho multiplex.r man/ | sort| uniq -c
> > 4 multiplexer
> > 4 multiplexor
> >
> > Which one should we prefer, and why?
>
> A reason for 'e' is that __NR_multiplexer uses 'e'.

That's the best reason to choose 'e', and the one I'd select.

The question of usage of -or or -er is a messy one in English, whether
in Commonwealth or Yankee forms.[1][2]

(If we're being even more picky, -trix further spices the mix.[3])

Regards,
Branden

[1] https://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2007/10/agentive-suffixes-er-and-or-and-little.html
[2] https://ianjamesparsley.wordpress.com/2023/02/17/the-weirdness-of-agent-nouns/
[3] https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/womens_suffixes.php