[mamonoleechi]

it shows the plural,

un chapeau, des chapeaux -> one hat, hats

[speedgoose]

But you don’t pronounce it and in your example you know it’s plural without the x.

I would say it’s technical debt but rest assured that the language is alive and will eventually drop the x. Perhaps we will have a s instead of a x first.

[projektfu]

It does change sound sometimes based on the following word.