I agree completely with trickykid, and at the risk of repeating his points I'd like to toss in my own thoughts to the discussion. In my opinion there are several important and valid reasons why advertising is not permitted in the forums. Certainly the promotion of a Linux-friendly company sounds good on paper, but unfortunately I think it would open up a Pandora's box, and we would all quickly find ourselves riding on the express train into Spam City (sorry about the mixed metaphors). From my point of view:
1. No advertising in the forums at all means that the posts within the LQ forums are focused exclusively on Linux, without any clutter from spam, unwanted ads, etc. Users looking for information about a technical problem can have confidence that the posts here will actually be on-topic, and that they won't be subjected to dozens of spams while searching for a useful response. This is one of the great strengths of LQ, and I don't think weakening or dismantling this policy would make LQ a better place to visit.
2. In order to be fair to all interested parties, if advertising in the forums were permitted, then a judgment call would need to be made as to whether each ad should be permitted or rejected, presumably with Linux-friendly ads being approved and the others denied. However, apart from the whining from the folks whose ads were rejected, I have no doubt that spammers would try to circumvent the system, and would put up ads that had Linux all over them in order to get approval, but then 2 days later, switch the content to pure spam. Realistically, any attempt to successfully manage this scenario would be doomed to failure, and without continual monitoring, in almost no time flat *all* the LQ forums would be over-run by spam, not just the one you propose.
3. As trickykid stated, you essentially are asking LQ for permission to advertise your company for free, under the banner that it may possibly be helpful to people looking for places to get Linux related products/services. To turn the tables somewhat, suppose someone like me were to approach you and ask the same question: Can I advertise my Linux-related services for free on the websites you host? After all, it might help promote Linux. I'm not trying to gang up on you, but I gotta say that this question sounds a lot like "Can I get a free lunch?"
Seeing as how you have been a registered member here since last year, obviously I understand that you were asking an honest question, and it's clear that your intentions are good and that you're not trying to game the system. Nevertheless, I would be opposed to any changes to the existing policy - No advertising, no free lunches.
In closing let me emphasize that I am only speaking for myself, and any that any questions about the LQ policies are best directed to the site administrator. Finally, I would also encourage you to consider contacting
LQ Advertising and/or becoming a
Contributing Member If you want to publicize your company and/or help support LQ, I would suggest that both those options would be worthwhile to consider. As always, this is strictly my 2 cents. – J.W.