synth-diy.org coming soon... :-)

[J. Larry Hendry]

Rick J wrote:
>  Synth-diy was started by me a few years ago, and I'm
>  happy to see a relatively constant population on the
>  list happily sharing ideas and help.

Rick, Please allow me to publicly thank you for you insight to start this
list.  I am mostly a lurker here and post only when I have something to
contribute (which seems to be the general mode of conduct here).  I fully
admit that at least 1/2 of the discussions here (especially the math) go
right over my head.  However, the value in this list for me has been the
wondeful people I have met and what I have learned from others.  My
contributions have been mostly concerning mains and grounding (a specialty
in my line of work).

> I'm a little bit concerned that by doing it "bigger
> and better" a (much) wider audience is attracted,
> diluting this little community. I think mailing lists
>  like this can only be "occupied" by a small community.
> With increased numbers of people the number 
> of messages increases, which means you will lose
> people. So far synth-diy has been spared the noise and
> fights that is abundant on many other mailing lists...

I certainly agree that the "size" of sdiy seems to be just about right. 
However, I see two elements are required to keep a site as pleasant and
informative as this one.  Being small alone is not good enough.  I recently
abandoned the Levnet Theremin related list because of too much Y2K bulls***
ranting and raving by just a few individuals (OK, maybe one of two).  And,
I was forced from Analog Heaven by the sheer volume of posts.  It was just
too much for me.  I hated to leave AH though because there are many really
great folks over there hidden in the masses.  So, not being too big is
important along with people who can be professional enough to stay mostly
ON-topic (nothing wrong with a little humor and "fringe" subjects).

However, what I love most about this list is the diversity.  There is
plenty of room for guys that can design a synth from the ground up AND
relative newbies like myself to coexist.  And, for the most part every one
here seems to be able to handle constructive criticism very well.  After
all, critical thinking is a fundamental of good engineering.  When somone
discovers something that could be better in another's circuit, the response
is ,"great, thanks for you input" instead of taking offense.

> I'm not saying that you should not do it bigger and
> better, but  you take on a certain responsibility for
> the continuity. I cannot claim to "own" synth-diy, the
> list is you, the list members. All hope is that a pleasant
> forum continues to exist as it has for the past 4 years.
> Regards,
> Rick Jansen

That is up up to us each individually do our part to be slow to take
offense and open to other's input.  In my opinion, inclusion in a group as
this one is a priviledge.  Those that cannot participate in a manner
acceptable to the group in general (now there's a hard one to pinpoint)
should be asked to leave.

Thanks again Rick.  As long as there are great people here, this will
continue to be a great list.
Larry Hendry