Hello Friends:

The Oracle discussions regarding the HP 3000 have been interesting --
because they show the power of perspective in shaping IT choices. Some
users swear by Oracle, and others swear at it. Apart from this personal
experience with the database stands a greater group of analysts, managers
and programmers, those who know Oracle only by its reputation and
popularity. Life shows us that the latter quality is a powerful influence.
Some would say too powerful, in the face of better solutions.

Michel Gauthier, one with direct Oracle experience on the 3000, believes
Oracle makes the 3000 better: In another thread he says, "I would also add
that Oracle is probably the best friend MPE could have," he says. "The
longer Oracle's RDBMS will be ported on MPE, the longer MPE will live."
Would that this were true, Michel. HP says its 3000 customers and prospects
have shown it otherwise.

HP reports in our January issue that Oracle's acceptance in the community
has been slight (fewer than 200 installations) and its applications
delivered to the 3000 virtually non-existent. (Multiview is a notable
exception, but the flood of Oracle-based applications for the 3000 never
followed HP's costly port of the database).

This is why HP reports in the same issue that it has no plans to port
Oracle8 to the 3000: few customers are motivated to buy 3000s because the
system runs Oracle. There is always an Oracle reseller or rep whispering,
"You know, there's the HP 9000 to run Oracle, and a lot more customers and
applications over there." Oracle is too happy to report that HP-UX is the
leading platform for the database, and the preferred development
environment.

If Oracle was the best friend a 3000 could have, the platform's future
would be assured. On the last day that the last glossy trade rag publishes
its last issue, there will be an Oracle full page ad in it. Oracle succeeds
because of its relentless marketing and its ability to persuade others it
is the default database. That's might be true in some markets, but not on
the HP 3000, even after many years of promotions and porting of the
software.

Its initial success was simple, by some accounts. Two issues ago in the
NewsWire we asked one 3000 vendor who sells an Oracle utility why the
database is so popular. He said, "Because at the beginning they supported
every platform imaginable. It's never been about quality -- it's been all
about being everywhere."

Computing today is full of this herd mentality. Another vendor with many
NT-using customers reports in our latest issue that NT is prevalent because
"customers have 400 pounds of magazine issues telling them NT is the way to
go. Nobody's gotten fired for buying NT, yet." Working to avoid getting
fired might seem to be a joyless existence to some. Perhaps survival is the
first order of the day at these herd-like companies.

Oracle is not the bane of the HP 3000, but it's not its best friend,
either. The HP 3000's best friends are companies, managers, analysts and
programmers who are willing to walk a less popular route with their
computing choices -- to follow productivity and simplicity. In time this
industry will wake from its spell and see simplicity as the key to
prosperity.

You want to be on that path when the scales fall from the analysts' eyes.
Otherwise, you're not leaving any trace of your unique gifts in your work.
"The person who walks in another's tracks leaves no footprints."


Ron Seybold, Editor In Chief
The 3000 NewsWire
Independent Information to Maximize Your HP 3000
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