On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 10:34:00AM -0700, J.C. Roberts wrote: > On Sun, 11 Apr 2010 16:03:42 +0059 Jason McIntyre <j...@kerhand.co.uk> > wrote: > > > - it should be "an mpe device", not "a mpe device" (i'll fix the one > > in mpe.4) > > The determining factor for the correct use of the indefinite articles > "a" and "an" is based on pronunciation. If the word starts with a > classic vowel sound, like short A, long O, short I, short E, long E and > short U, then "an" should be used, otherwise "a" should be used. The > rule itself is consistent between British and American English, but > since pronunciation differs, application varies. > > Assuming one would pronounce the "m" of "mpe" as a short E sound, > namely pronounced as as "em," then your suggestion seems correct at > first glance: > > "an early start" > "an employee" > "an mpe device" >
the alternative would a "mu-pe-eh" device. really, we read abbreviations like this as normal letters: "m" is "em". > None the less, the most correct answer is to avoid the use of > indefinite articles whenever feasible. > i don;t agree. it's simply how it works, and we shouldn;t have to jump through hoops trying to avoid some imaginary issue. > If an indefinite article is used, subsequent uses of the noun should > use the definite article "the" rather than reusing the indefinite > article. > > "She has a dog. The dog is named stupid, and it runs away often, > so she has to go around the neighborhood calling for it." > > In the case of the man pages, the object is not indefinite. > but we can come back to some idea, and talk about it generally. and still use the indefinite article to be unspecific. it is not wrong. > The correct way to handle plurals and mass nouns is with a zero article > (e.g. no article at all), or a partial/partitive article (e.g. "some"), > or negative article (e.g. "no" "none"). Using plurals where applicable > is another good way to get around the use of indefinite articles. > > ifconfig(8) > "The following options are available for an mpe(4) interface:" > "The following options are available for the mpe(4) interface:" > "The following options are available for mpe(4) interfaces:" > "The mpe(4) interface options are:" > "mpe(4) interface options:" > > mpe(4) > "An mpe interface can be created at runtime using..." > "The mpe interface can be created at runtime using..." > "mpe interfaces can be created at runtime using..." > > Personally, I favor brevity to avoid the issue entirely. > there is no issue (at least in my mind). > The most important question is, if nit-pickery like this even matters? > It took more far time to write this nit-pickery than it took to create the > diffs to fix things (according to *my* view of the world, which may or > may not be entirely accurate, but it's the only one I have, and hence, the > diffs may or may not be acceptable). > > jcr > your diff would be ok, but i don;t think it's an improvement. altogether everyone - em-pee-ee. jmc > > Index: ifconfig.8 > =================================================================== > RCS file: /cvs/src/sbin/ifconfig/ifconfig.8,v > retrieving revision 1.199 > diff -N -u -p ifconfig.8 > --- ifconfig.8 12 Apr 2010 01:26:29 -0000 1.199 > +++ ifconfig.8 23 Apr 2010 17:27:03 -0000 > @@ -429,8 +429,7 @@ the hardware will be re-initialized. > .El > .Pp > .Nm > -supports a multitude of sub-types, > -described in the following sections: > +supports the sub-types described below: > .Pp > .Bl -dash -offset indent -compact > .It > @@ -466,9 +465,8 @@ and > .El > .\" BRIDGE > .Sh BRIDGE > -The following options are available for a > .Xr bridge 4 > -interface: > +interface options: > .Bl -tag -width Ds > .It Cm add Ar interface > Add > @@ -746,9 +744,8 @@ Start the bridge forwarding packets. > .Op Cm vhid Ar host-id > .Ek > .Pp > -The following options are available for a > .Xr carp 4 > -interface: > +interface options: > .Bl -tag -width Ds > .It Cm advbase Ar n > Set the base advertisement interval to > @@ -845,7 +842,7 @@ will begin advertising as master. > .Op Oo Fl Oc Cm wpapsk Ar psk > .Ek > .Pp > -The following options are available for a wireless interface: > +wireless interface options: > .Bl -tag -width Ds > .It Cm bssid Ar bssid > Set the desired BSSID. > @@ -1084,9 +1081,8 @@ authentication. > .Op Cm vltime Ar n > .Ek > .Pp > -The following options are available for an > .Xr ip6 4 > -interface: > +interface options: > .Bl -tag -width Ds > .It Cm anycast > Set the IPv6 anycast address bit. > @@ -1144,7 +1140,7 @@ Set valid lifetime for the address. > .Op Ar number > .Oc > .Pp > -The following options are available for interface groups: > +interface group options: > .Bl -tag -width Ds > .It Fl g Ar group-name > Specify the group. > @@ -1171,9 +1167,8 @@ is omitted, it is decreased by 1. > .Ar mpe-interface > .Op Cm mplslabel Ar mpls-label > .Pp > -The following options are available for an > .Xr mpe 4 > -interface: > +interface options: > .Bl -tag -width Ds > .It Cm mplslabel Ar mpls-label > Set the MPLS label to > @@ -1188,9 +1183,8 @@ packets entering the MPLS domain. > .Op Oo Fl Oc Cm flowdst Ar addr : Ns Ar port > .Op Oo Fl Oc Cm flowsrc Ar addr > .Pp > -The following options are available for a > .Xr pflow 4 > -interface: > +interface options: > .Bl -tag -width Ds > .It Cm flowdst Ar addr : Ns Ar port > Set the receiver address and the port for > @@ -1223,9 +1217,8 @@ Unset the source address. > .Op Oo Fl Oc Cm syncpeer Ar peer_address > .Ek > .Pp > -The following options are available for a > .Xr pfsync 4 > -interface: > +interface options: > .Bl -tag -width Ds > .It Cm defer > Defer transmission of the first packet in a state until a peer has > @@ -1283,9 +1276,8 @@ are described in the > .Sx SPPP > section, below. > .Pp > -The following options are available for a > .Xr pppoe 4 > -interface: > +interface options: > .Bl -tag -width Ds > .It Cm pppoeac Ar access-concentrator > Set the name of the access-concentrator. > @@ -1311,11 +1303,10 @@ Clear a previously set service name. > .Op Cm peername Ar name > .Op Cm peerproto Ar proto > .Pp > -The following options are availble for an > .Xr sppp 4 > or > .Xr pppoe 4 > -interface: > +interface options: > .Bl -tag -width Ds > .It Cm authkey Ar key > Set the client key or password for the PPP authentication protocol. > @@ -1371,9 +1362,8 @@ In the latter case, authentication will be turned off. > .Op Oo Fl Oc Ns Cm trunkport Ar child-iface > .Op Cm trunkproto Ar proto > .Pp > -The following options are available for a > .Xr trunk 4 > -interface: > +interface options: > .Bl -tag -width Ds > .It Cm trunkport Ar child-iface > Add > @@ -1398,7 +1388,7 @@ for a complete list of the available protocols, > .Op Cm tunneldomain Ar route-id > .Ek > .Pp > -The following options are available for a tunnel interface: > +tunnel interface options: > .Bl -tag -width Ds > .It Cm deletetunnel Ar src_address dest_address > Remove the source and destination tunnel addresses. > @@ -1429,9 +1419,8 @@ the corresponding routing domain is derived from this > .Op Cm vlanprio Ar vlan-priority > .Ek > .Pp > -The following options are available for a > .Xr vlan 4 > -interface: > +interface options: > .Bl -tag -width Ds > .It Cm vlan Ar vlan-tag > Set the vlan tag value > > > Index: mpe.4 > =================================================================== > RCS file: /cvs/src/share/man/man4/mpe.4,v > retrieving revision 1.6 > diff -N -u -p mpe.4 > --- mpe.4 11 Apr 2010 15:29:07 -0000 1.6 > +++ mpe.4 23 Apr 2010 17:27:42 -0000 > @@ -28,20 +28,19 @@ The > interface is an MPLS Provider Edge pseudo-device used to enter > and leave an MPLS domain. > .Pp > -An > .Nm > -interface can be created at runtime using the > +interfaces can be created at runtime using the > .Ic ifconfig mpe Ns Ar N Ic create > -command or by setting up a > +command or by creating a > .Xr hostname.if 5 > configuration file for > .Xr netstart 8 . > -The interface itself can be configured with > -.Xr ifconfig 8 ; > -see its manual page for more information. > +.Nm > +interfaces can be configured with > +.Xr ifconfig 8 . > .Pp > .Nm > -interfaces support the following unique ioctls: > +ioctls: > .Bl -tag -width "SIOCSETLABEL" -offset 3n > .It SIOCSETLABEL > Encapsulate packets entering this interface in MPLS using > > > > > > > > > -- > The OpenBSD Journal - http://www.undeadly.org
