HP’s response to Sletten’s complaints was to restate its messages for homesteaders

Holiday deadlines kept part of the HP response to homesteading customers out of our main January issue article about OpenMPE frustrations. While OpenMPE board member Ken Sletten urged customers to boycott HP if the vendor does not free MPE, the full text of the reply from business manager Dave Wilde of HP wanted to recap what the vendor will consider for the homesteading customer. (Full text of both Sletten’s letter and Wilde’s reply are at www.3000newswire.com/open04.html)

“HP has consistently delivered three messages since the November 2001 announcement,” Wilde’s statement began. ”First, HP recommends transitioning e3000 applications to other HP platforms. Second, HP will continue to deliver the same, high-quality, software and hardware support for HP e3000 customers through HP end-of-support, and where practical, will consider enhancing MPE/iX to meet customers’ evolving business needs during that period. Third, HP will work with customers who believe they will continue to depend on the HP e3000 to meet some of their business needs beyond HP end-of-support, to understand their issues and concerns, and to determine how HP can help address those issues.”

OpenMPE had a board meeting scheduled in the first full week of January, and vice chairman Birket Foster — now the ranking member of the board, after the resignation of chairman Jon Backus on Dec. 31 — said he expects the minutes of the meeting would be online at www.openmpe.org soon after the meeting.