[eadmund]

> How would you have worded it in such a way as to sincerely express the stated sentiment without coming across as passive‐aggressively rude?

Something like ‘While we understand that some people would prefer to read the original texts (modulo typos, formatting errors and the like), we think that it is preferable to modernize spelling because X, Y and Z.’

In other words, the polite response to ‘I like most of what you’re doing, but I dislike this particular thing’ is not ‘Fine! You’re free to go elsewhere,’ with an implied ‘don’t let the door hit you on the backside on your way out,’ but rather to engage and explain.

Again, I have to admit my own bias against the policy and consequent bias in favour of the original poster.