Hewlett-Packard Co. said last week that it will update users on the future of the operating system source code for its HP e3000 hardware in the fourth quarter. But for many users of the discontinued minicomputer line, the decision will likely be moot.

"The way HP has dragged its feet with this, it"s almost a nonissue," said Connie Sellitto, who manages an e3000 for The Cat Fanciers Association Inc. in Manasquan, N.J. "Most of the people who may need new features have already decided to migrate, and the rest of us are just going to ride the system as long as we can."

HP stopped selling the e3000s in 2003 and plans to halt support at the end of 2006. Some users and third-party support firms asked HP early last year to release the source code for its MPE operating system so they could keep developing the technology.

Homesteading

While many users have made migration plans, some will "homestead," choosing to run their existing machines past the end-of-support date. Having the MPE source code could help companies that want to add drivers and other functionality to their systems, said Steve Cooper, president of Allegro Consultants Inc. in San Jose. Allegro is one four e3000 consulting firms that formed a consortium earlier this year to provide third-party support.

OpenMPE Inc., a user advocacy group in Hagerstown, Md., has been in talks with HP on the issue. Birket Foster, a consultant who is also OpenMPE"s chairman, referred questions to HP.

HP had said that it wouldn"t decide whether to release the source code until the second half of this year. In a written response last week, David Wilde, HP"s e3000 business manager, narrowed that time frame to near the end of the year. He also said HP has "met and exceeded" its road map commitments for enhancements and patches as part of the e3000"s end-of-life phase.

Terry Simpkins, IT manager at Measurement Specialties Inc. (MSI), said the Hampton, Va.-based sensor manufacturer intends to remain on the e3000 for at least five more years. MSI runs an ERP system that was written for the e3000 by SSA Global Technologies Inc. and supports about 600 users worldwide.

Migrating would create "a huge disruption," said Simpkins, who noted that he"s confident his staff can keep MSI"s e3000 running. Simpkins is unhappy with HP for discontinuing the system. But if HP officials decide to release the MPE source code, "it would garner them much more goodwill with our company," he said.

One user that didn"t wait for HP to decide whether to make the MPE source code available is Columbia Steel Casting Co. in Portland, Ore. In April, it completed a migration of its custom-built, Cobol-based business systems to HP 9000 hardware running HP-UX and a third-party MPE emulator.

"You can"t just wait around forever for HP to make up their mind what they"re going to do," said Rex Dickey, Columbia Steel"s IT director. "My real impression is that HP is just stalling and hoping that everybody just kind of goes away."