I would like to present our stand on commercial postings and
advertisments on si-list.
1. An announcement of new si-related tools should be restricted
to a description of the technical characteristics and an
e-mail or web address where further info may be obtained from.
Please refrain from marketing surveys and other sales tactics
on the list. If demos are available, either state where they
may be obtained from or request that interested parties
respond via e-mail for more details.
2. Recruitment notices posted on an occasional basis by
working si professionals looking for new staff members
are allowable. Postings by HR departments and such seeking
to utilize the list as a general source of candidates is
discouraged (especially when they show up on a regular basis).
The purpose of the list is to allow and encourage technical
discussion amongst si professionals. When a question is posed inquiring
about what tool might be appropriate for a particular purpose, a posting
by a tool vendor giving basic technical information and a point of contact
is appropriate since it is a relevant reply to a technical question. When a
new or improved tool becomes available it may be appropriate to make a
technical announcement of the fact, but please refrain from putting a marketing spin on the announcement. The spread of info of a technical nature is valuable, but obvious marketing/sales pitches are discouraged.
It is also noted that the vast majority of the vendors who adhere
to the policy of no sales/marketing content in postings are put at a
disadvantage by those who choose to disregard the policy.
Our goal is to keep the signal to noise ratio high on this list
and make it a truly useful forum for technical interchange. To that end
I think it has been very successful with a high degree of participation
on the part of the 440 subscribers.
I hope this posting hasn't come across with a "net-police" flavor,
but a number of subscribers have commented on various postings and I
just felt it was time to reiterate the general list policy. If you have
comments or opinions you would like to share (either pro or con) on this
policy, by all means speak up.
Ray Anderson
si-list administrator
[email protected]