Duane said: >I would encourage all to read the latest 3k NewsWire interview with >Harry Sterling regarding the discussions vis-a-vis the IPROF >proposal of funding additional HP r&d efforts for the HP3k. Ditto. I am encouraged to see that HP is willing to pursue options in this area. For the moment I will only add that it is important that any such voluntary "customer participation" in additional funding of HP 3000 enhancements be as broad-based as possible. To make that happen, the minimum financial threshold needs to be kept reasonably low. Hmmm...... Interex might have a real opportunity here, to perhaps extend the current operational model for the various SIGs; i.e.: many SIGs are already employing some version of the "$100 test", where members get to vote with phantom dollars on a yearly SIG enhancement ballot. Maybe there could be some kind of a two-tiered ballot, where: Everyone continues to get to vote with phantom dollars, but in addition those sites who are willing to put up some of their own money get to vote a second time with however many real dollars they want to spend, which would then be forwarded to / through HP. ... Can't pull them up right now, but think a few recent posts to 3000-L have wondered something of the same..... The key need here would be to be able to "pool" the resources from different sites who are interested in the same or at least similar enhancements. Seems like having individual sites trying to deal directly with HP on all "paid" enhancement requests without any kind of coordination would be inefficient, chaotic, and difficult to manage. Whatever might be worked out, I reiterate my call for any kind of additional customer HP 3000 R&D funding to look as much like "regular" maintenance money as possible. Especially for all levels of Government sites, it is usually *much* easier to get both approval and actual dollars for something that can at least semi-reasonably called "on-going maintenance" than for anything that looks like a new purchase (trust me; been there, done dat, for nearly 15 years). >If you don't subscribe, then I guess this is a <plug> .... Toggle <plug> dup counter.... >And Ken, yes - I really am going to post those ideas. >They just have to wait until later this week or the weekend. Ah, yes, the eternal "faster I run, behinder I get problem"... Been there, doing dat too.... But consider the alternative to being employed and busy... ;-) Ken