Chuck Ryan wrote questioning the need for secrecy in the focus group
discussions.

John Backus replied, "The intent of the focus group list is to be used
before conferences to
schedule the time and associated details.  After the conference it would be
used to make sure an accurate recap is done.  Does that effort seem
excessive or comical to anybody else?" but does not indicate that the
content of the focus groups will be made public. So, yes, it appears both
comical and excessive to me.

Jeff Vance brought up the old HP excuse for confidentiality that has served
in the past as more a barrier against progress than any real protection,
"I'd like to add that another reason for a private list is to ensure that
confidential information shared by the participating companies does not
become public. It is important to HP, in collecting this information,
that the companies sharing their needs, goals, plans, configurations, etc.
are confident that we (HP) will not reveal this information to the public in
any way that identifies the companies involved, unless we have their
consent." I just do not understand why HP continues with this secrecy
silliness (this is the primary reason given for not opening up internal
knowledge databases and for not opening up MPE source). So edit out the
names of the organizations and their representatives. One of the worst kept
secrets over the last dozen years was that State Farm Insurance was a huge
user of the HP 3000. The "secrecy" attached to this did not serve State
Farm, HP or the HP 3000 community at large. As with Jon Backus, Jeff makes
no mention of whether the content of the focus group discussions will be
made public. Reality check: HP stops selling the HP 3000 and MPE on October
31 2003!

Wirt wrote a number of things with which I mostly agree, though I am less
certain than he that the emulator is completely dead - on life support
certainly, but not completely dead. He does make an important point about
publicity, especially negative publicity, as a driving factor influencing
corporations. HP has stage managed the information flow about the HP 3000's
demise, in order to minimize negative publicity, better than it ever
promoted the system. The decision to kill the HP 3000 had been made before
HPWorld 2001 and key CSY executives knew about it and then lied that
everything was just fine in their presentations. The actual announcement was
purposely made during the dead zone time of the year, making any organized,
negative, user response nearly impossible. In a colossal show of conceit, HP
assumed its HP 3000 customers would blindly follow (finally) its
recommendation to transition rapidly to HP-UX - at which point we will all
apparently experience good health, wealth and happiness. The almost two
years that have followed The Announcement show, if nothing else, how poorly
HP understood and understands its HP 3000 customers and what they want out
of a computer system and a computer system vendor. The secrecy surrounding
HP's discussions with OpenMPE effectively co-opts the organization and
everyone who threw in their lot with it.

For those of us in the trenches, one thing has not changed, HP (not
necessarily our still good friends at vCSY) wants MPE to die, die, die - and
has wanted MPE to die for a number of years. The sooner the better. Since
The Announcement, rather than take the approach that its customers might
have some good ideas and let's all try to make them work, HP takes the
negative approach that the ideas cannot work because of this or that reason.
HP always has a reason why something that could benefit its HP 3000
customers "would be difficult to do." HP, ask not what your customers can do
for you, ask what you can do for your customers.

OpenMPE was a good concept, but it has been plagued from the beginning by
its hat in hand approach to HP, rather than taking an aggressive, here is
what we want you to do approach.

So, go ahead and have your secret focus groups - or at least try to have
them [I was involved in a previous focus group effort over six months ago
that was a joke and a colossal waste of time - if it ever even came off at
all, since I finally said screw it after the umpteenth postponement.] HP,
and the OpenMPE board, everything you need to know about what people feel
has already been said, either here on the OpenMPE list or on HP3000-L. You
do not need to study anymore. HP stops selling the HP 3000 in exactly two
weeks, an emulator seems less likely every day and HP is still dragging its
feet (holding focus groups) on items that would help people continue to use
MPE (converting comparable used HP9000s to HP 3000s is a leading example).

As long as I am taking shots, note that the end of sales date was chosen not
with customers in mind but with the HP walletheads in mind (October 31 is
the end of HP's fiscal year).

Oh, lest anyone think I am taking shots at everyone except myself, I've
never forgiven myself for not acting on the uneasy feeling I got at HPWorld
2001 when the CSY execs sloughed off all questions about the porting of MPE
to IA-64. I too was lured into believing that a promise was a promise and
they just chose to focus on near term issues.

John Burke