I gave Birket an opening for the pitch:

[....SNIP....]           ;-)

> We thank all the customers who have taught us what they really
> needed and would pay for - they are the designers for the product
> functionality - if a function is worth something, organizations will
> pay for it.

I'm actually not quite sure right now if Birket took my post the
wrong way or not;  and I've *got* to get away from email and do
some real work;  but just for the record:

I did NOT mean to imply that I was or am in any way upset with
M.B. Foster for not including more "free functionality" in the HP -
bundled ODBCLink/SE.  Birket & Co. are in no way legally,
ethically, or morally obligated to give away the products in which
they have invested much time and effort.  HP & M.B. Foster made
the deal they made on what was going to be bundled and that is
done.  Additional deals in the private sector between two corporate
entities are always possible;  however:  I will only add (again) what
HP has repeatedly stated:  They are NOT going to bundle ODBC
direct to TurboIMAGE because that functionality is and has been
available for some time now from multiple third-party vendors;  i.e.:
M.B. Foster and Minisoft.  HP is going to concentrate on porting
MPE and TurboIMAGE to IA-64....

NOW:  back to real work..

Ken Sletten