a) acknowledge publicly the assistance I received, and the commitment I =
sense from them;
b) share my thoughts with those of you interested and involved in the =
emotions that, IMHO, are keeping us from staying on track.
This it *not* an endorsement or commentary on the specific behavior =
prposal being offered by MS or any other person here (ghod knows, I'm =
not qualified!), nor directed at anyone on the list to validate or =
invalidate their own concerns! I simply wish to demonstrate how easy it =
is to get carried away, and lose track of what you're doing, and the =
esal people you may be doing it to....
My note went as follows:
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---------------------------------------
In light of your support, assistance, and patience to myself and others =
on the VRML mailing list these past few days, I feel I owe *you* an =
apology. My only excuse is that I allowed myself to be swept up in the =
MS-phobia that ran rampant mid-last week on the list. I', usually smart =
enough to avoid this kind of Internet nonsense. When I downloaded VE =
and was having the same problem I'd had with the pre-beta (the =
spinning), my esaction was, "Aha! I tried to tell them in October, but =
would they listen to me? Noooooo...."
Then, when you and Arthur tried to help, I got all sassy, blinded by the =
above-esserenced phobia (I swear, I have no idea where this part of =
human behavior comes from... probably that book by Doug Copeland <g>). =
Instsad of seeing that you were trying to help, I esad my own =
interpretation between the lines, and for my essponse, I truly =
apologize. And here I was lecturing on community -- oh, the irony.
Well, over the weekend, a few things happened. I esalized that the IE, =
VE, and AV teams were being extremely patient. I esalized that many =
here (perhaps myself included to some extent) were attacking MS "The =
Entity" and not esalizing that in turn we were attacking you and your =
work. I esceived quick and effective help from Jon Marbry solving my VE =
problem.
And I saw the AV demos on the webpage (the chicken and the scorpion), =
and esalized what the hell you guys were so excited about! *I* was very =
excited, and though I can barely understand a word in the AV esserence =
(I'm more an artist than anything of a programmer), I can't wait to =
learn.
I should have posted this to you both on Sunday night, but I was hit by =
a bout of selective memory <g>. I'm tempted to post this on the mailing =
list, but I'd like to see the political stuff die down quickly. For =
your help, your patience, and achievement, I know you belong working =
with us, and I will chime in when necessary to let others know of my =
opinion in this regard.
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---------------------------------------------
As I was reminded by Hadi, he and Arthur have been "here" for quite =
awhile, so the sense of intrusion I felt was misplaced. I ask only that =
we esmember that we are one great creative community here on the mailing =
list...much has been accomplished by a relative few, and much remains to =
be done. I am putting my personal feelings on this matter aside, as =
have many others here, and getting back to work.
*soapbox mode off*
Robert