Richard,

        It was I, Jon Backus, that created the OpenMPE discussion group.  I think
it was the right thing to do at the time and I still believe it was the
right thing to do.  First let me start off by saying I have been a long
stranding member of the 3000-L and consider it a great resource, very
similar to a large room full of old friends and business acquaintances.
There is a nice roar of the crowd, business & personal conversations all
around, and occasional laughter.  I wander through the crowd having many
conversations and missing many others that I would have liked to be part of,
bit I missed them just because of the shear volume and limited time.

        To use another analogy, when I go to HP World I use the showroom floor for
general networking and quick answers.  I then use the break-out sessions to
drill down on the details of specific topics.  The break-out sessions are
available to anybody that is interested in the topic and is well publicized.
One of the beauties of the break-out sessions is that anybody that is not
interested in the topic simply doesn't attend that session and everybody
that is there is focused on that topic, not others, while there.

        While there are many of us that feel every person that comes in contact
with MPE in any form should be interested in exploring a possible structured
future for MPE after December 31, 2006 - that is just not the case.  There
are many people in the 3000-L that have accepted HP's announcement and see
it as nothing short of a deadline for migration away from MPE - period.
Some of these customers and vendors have been long standing members of the
3000-L and will continue to use it as a resource until they migrate, but
they have no interest in the topic of OpenMPE.  There are many other people
in MPE shops and vendor companies that have interest in the topic of OpenMPE
only, and are not involved in the day-to-day management or technical issues
surrounding the HP e3000, such as the higher up decision makers.  There are
a number of these people that have joined the OpenMPE discussion group but
have no intention or desire to join a general discussion group.

        Rightfully so, there are a number of people that have and will continue to
express their emotions about the announcement in the 3000-L.  I, myself,
have done this and no doubt will do it again.  After all, I am in a room
full of old friends.  I personally do not believe that HP is going to
actively engage on the topic in the 3000-L.  The silent part of the crowd is
to unknown.  There is too much emotion.  And, the un-moderated nature of it
makes it way to easy to become unconstructive.

        I could be completely wrong on some or all the points expressed here or my
opinions could be equally right but just different from some.  I know there
are many people that have expressed gratitude and appreciation for the
separate focus group and there are some that don't like it.  To the first
group, you're welcome, to the second group, I'm sorry.  I guess all you can
do is try your hardest and hope for the best.

Sincerely,
        Jon Backus


-----Original Message-----
From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Richard Gambrell
Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2001 8:48 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] TR: [OpenMPE] RE: A possible roadmap to Open MPE


Christian Lheureux wrote:
>
> Since Wirt started this thread on HP3000-L, I should have posted my reply
to
> this list too. Sorry for the lapse in judgement. My own mistake.
>
> Christian Lheureux

I'd like repeat that I find it unfortunate that the Yahoo OpenMPE
list got started.  There is already too many splits in the MPE
community.

The future of New MPE is definately a topic that belongs on HP3000-L
and not elsewhere.

Richard

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