Re: AIX sed oddity

[Noah Misch]

On Sat, Jun 23, 2007 at 01:26:37PM +0200, Ralf Wildenhues wrote:
> --- doc/autoconf.texi 13 Jun 2007 16:52:24 -0000      1.1161
> +++ doc/autoconf.texi 23 Jun 2007 11:25:10 -0000
> @@ -13934,8 +13958,8 @@
>  @end example
>  
>  The @option{-e} option is portable, so long as its argument
> -does not begin with @samp{a}, @samp{c}, or @samp{i}
> -(as this runs afoul of a Tru64 5.1 bug).
> +is not empty and does not begin with @samp{a}, @samp{c}, or @samp{i}
> +(the former fails on AIX 5.3, the latter runs afoul of a Tru64 5.1 bug).
>  Some people prefer to use @samp{-e}:

I recommend against "former" and "latter" when indexing a list with more than
two entries.  Consider this wording:

  The @option{-e} option is portable, but AIX 5.3 requires a nonempty argument.
  Tru64 5.1 mishandles the argument when it begins with @samp{a}, @samp{c}, or
  @samp{i}.

Any similarly unambiguous wording is fine with me.  Thanks.