Hi All,
It seems this has blown up in a way that I never intended. I had sent an email privately to Bruce, but it seems I should send it to the group as well (with a few changes to address some points already brought up):
I wanted to apologize for being flippant (I think that's the right word, but articulation is not my strong suit) in my last email to you. The line "I find your lack of faith...disturbing" was meant to be an allusion to Star Wars, and was meant to be a joke rather than an attack. I realize, upon re-reading the email, you do not know me and my...unique...sense of humor, and that the tone I had intended (genial), the allusion (which it seems was picked up), and ultimately the joke (which was a bad one), probably did not come through. Anyways, to put it plainly, I'm sorry I offended you.
To Matt: The implication was never meant to be that Bruce should do what I wanted or be punished. (I realize that Vader was force choking the Admiral when he said the line, but when I wrote the original email the line just sort of popped into my head and I wrote it, without thinking about the context of the moment.) I think this may be one of those times where a tone of voice that seems clear in the head does not get communicated on paper. Your point about actively contributing to Demeter is well taken, and if my coding knowledge was anywhere above non-existent, I would have been more than willing to help fix the problem and further contribute to the project. But at this time, the only meaningful contribution I feel I can make is to report bugs as I find them.
Once again, my apologies to everyone.
John