Ron mentions that "It's not clear why HP wants to retain its hand in a
market that it is moving away from".

One thought that comes to mind is that if MPE is in someone else's hands, it
would be very difficult for HP-UX to compete against it.  What was once "the
crown jewels" becomes an opponent that can't be beaten.

Jeffrey D. Elmer
Information Systems Project Manager
Dairylea Cooperative Inc.
5001 Brittonfield Parkway
East Syracuse, NY 13057-9201

800.582.2552 Ext 5654
315.433.0100 Ext 5654
315.431.1354 Fax

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-----Original Message-----
From: Ron Seybold [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, September 30, 2002 12:29 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: PA-RISC Emulator


Hello Friends:

Chuck Ryan wants to know about the accuracy of the OpenMPE balloting
at HP World. A show of hands from the people in the room who would
use an Intel-based emulator: about 80 percent of the audience raised
their hands. Drop your hand if using it on HP-only hardware would
keep you from using it: about 5 percent of the prior group dropped
their hands.

While using the emulator on the HP hardware is a controlling factor
on HP's part, it's a temporary thing, in my opinion. I think that the
CSY staffers in HP need this caveat to sell the idea to HP's legal
department. And to be frank, it's not enforceable through technical
means. HP proposes to use the honor system, tied to the copy of MPE
you'll be able to use on your emulated HP 3000.

It's not clear why HP wants to retain its hand in a market that it is
moving away from, but things like the emulator's MPE license needing
HP hardware seem to prove that's the position HP is taking for now.

The real issue is the timing of the MPE license fees. Allegro and SRI
can't decide if building the emulator is a good business opportunity
for them until HP reports how much it wants for an MPE license to run
on Intel hardware. There seemed to be understanding from the HP rep
at the meeting (Mike Paivinen) that this decision needs to come a lot
sooner than next August's HP World meeting.

--

Ron Seybold, Editor In Chief
The 3000 NewsWire
Independent Information to Maximize Your HP 3000
http://www.3000newswire.com
512.331.0075 -- [log in to unmask]