Hi,
Hum, Johan is right. I did not consider this as a new feature, but I was wrong. Sorry--- still learning! :-(
I think it is definitely worth thinking about it: the point is that pattern-along-path loose a lot of usability if the offset parameters are not there (at least the 'space' added between copies): several people asked me about the old python script, just to have this functionality (that is what made me think of this as a kind of bug...). For instance, in many (most?) cases (foot prints, stars, any shape...), you don't want the copies of the pattern to touch each other. Moreover, the work arround are not easy...
Making the dimensions proportional or not to the size of the object is codewise straightfoward, but Johan is right stressing that the right decisions have to be made here. This requires some time to think about it, and might be worth postponing to 0.47. On the other hand, it would be a pitty to release lpe pattern-along-path without it...
I am just not experienced at all in such big projects as inkscape, and I'll devoutly follow guru's advices! In particular, I'll perfectly agree if we decide to remove this. JF.