I guess I am a bit confused. When you have assumed that an earth shattering event
will occur at a certain date and nothing can stop it, in spite of all efforts to
the contrary, it's a bit disconcerting to find that the date has been moved back
2 years.

From a cynical point of view, I would have to infer that HP has found that there
is still a potentially valuable revenue stream available for another couple of
years, if only on a "selected" basis. I like Alan Yeo's remarks and have to agree
with most of them. However, I have to reluctantly admit that the extension of HP
Support, although more costly than the alternatives, will provide additional
security for the "selected" sites.

However, what does this announcement do to the aims of OpenMPE?

The website states : "OpenMPE is in final stages of working with HP on strategies
to support the HP3000 customers past Dec 31, 2006.  OpenMPE has proposed to the
community a fee-based service for providing upkeep of the MPE operating system
and its environment. If this service comes on line, users of MPE will be asked to
commit funds to enable OpenMPE to hire software engineers to take charge of the
68 racks of equipment and the build and test processes which turn millions of
lines of code into the secure and stable OS we know as MPE."

Is OpenMPE still expecting people to stump up sums of money when HP is continuing
its support and stewardship of MPE for another 2 years? When does the transfer of
source code become an actual possibility? Will there be enough people left then
to provide the necessary funds?

To my mind it appears that HP is surprised that MPE is taking so long to die and
perhaps by giving it another 2 years, it will pass away more peacefully.

In addition, this move has stolen the thunder from both OpenMPE and Third Party
companies supporting MPE. I am confused. Probably best if had kept silent until I
had  figured out what is really going on here.

Cheers,

John Dunlop



“This will all take time and money to transition the knowledge to our
organization. Then we can work with users to prioritize the changes required to
meet their business needs”, said Donna Garverick, corporate Secretary and OpenMPE
board member.

“Now is the time for HP3000 customers to commit funds to this large effort.
Martin will be the driving force behind our program to sell our services to the
community. Martin will be adding detail to the business plan as this transition
goes forward and OpenMPE becomes operational. Martin is the liaison with HP and
the customer base and will be working to produce an appropriate plan”, said Paul
Edwards, Treasurer and OpenMPE board member.





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