Tranquilis,
You and I got into a crazy kind of flame war on the temporary boards. Frankly, the whole thing sprang outta nowhere for me, and I was suprised where it went. It was all about a confusion of terms. I apologise if I caused you distress. I’ve met you, you came to my Xmas dopefest and dragged me outta the kitchen so you could do the dishes, claiming I had “Done enough” cooking for a couple of dozen people. ( hehe. selfishly, you were right )
Anyhow, you’ve always been one of the good guys in my book, and I was suprised when I realized who I was argueing with. I still think objectively I was right, but I completely understand your reaction. “Objectively right” dosen’t override common courtesy, and I forgot that simple fact, so please accept my apologies.
Thats what it all boils down to. When discussing anything important, you’ve got to have compatible definitions for your terms. You and I have definitions that don’t match. Worse, society as a whole still hasn’t settled on which definition to use, so while some programmers and the general public use one vesion, other programmers, enthusiasts, security experts, and people who defy easy definition (me) use another. Your “objective correctness” and my “objective correctness” simply don’t match in this area.
The fact that your definitions and mine don’t match, doesn’t make you any less of a class act.
I failed to see this when the main board returned, and I appreciate you pointing it out to me. I certainly don’t carry any grudge towards you, and can only appologise for the heat with which I responded to the misunderstanding. As you may have noticed, I respond aggressively and with much vigor to personal attacks, even when it’s only an issue of perception. My knee jerked, and I never stopped in my vitriol to check my assumptions.
Terribly sorry for my part in the misunderstanding.
Monty, If you’re listening, this goes for you, too.
Sure, Dave, you apologize to Tranq for something minor like a misunderstanding of terms.
When the hell am I going to get my apology, which I so richly deserve?!?
Hmmm?
I’m waiting!
(And don’t bother asking what you’re apologizing for; if you don’t know, I’m not going to tell you!)
Spritle, Dave called me this morning, saying over and over, “I’m sorry, oh, I’m so, so sorry.”
“For what?” I kept asking, but I never could get an answer out of him.
So it appears I may have inadvertently gotten your apology. But you know what, now that I’ve got it I think I’m going to hang on to it, since he’s sure to goof up at some point. Always good to have a spare apology laying around just in case, I say.