I think i figured it out and i blame my illness for my failing to realize... it's september. HN comments have been upside-down world for a few weeks now. I just assumed my brain was having slight issues with comprehension and understanding how i was presenting my ideas; while that may perhaps be part of it, i don't think it's the full story.

I don't think i've used sigrok (or the other product mentioned around here), but i do have one of those usb oscopes and now i want to check it [sigrok] out. Whenever i see a bunch of people bellyaching about free software i gotta try it out - it usually ends up a permanent part of my toolkit.

thanks for replying, and i hope the maintainer gets their comments undeaded.