Earlier this morning out on the 3000-L mailing list, a customer asked if the book The MPE/iX System Administration Handbook was worth owning. Bill Brandt admitted that "When we got our used 917, my collection of HP publications is a bit hit and miss."  This book by Jon Diercks is a hit, something of a marvel when you consider its publication date of summer, 2001. HP hadn't scrubbed its 3000 program by that summer, but the 3000 was still a highly specialized, boutique server with a loyal following. Diercks' book was a breath of well-researched intelligence. You can still buy it today at Amazon and other outlets.

We reviewed the book in the NewsWire when it first surfaced. Paper books and manuals might be fading from the first rank of tech resources, but there's been a good history of ink on paper to help 3000 customers. One of our readers, Wayne Burke, offered a few of these kinds of resources for free recently:

I used to work on an HP3000 and have some old text manuals (in excellent condition) to give to anyone that might want it, if you could pass this on.

Image 3000 Handbook.
HP3000 bible.
Vesoft - Thoughts and Discourses on the  HP3000 software, by Eugene Volokh (Red, green and black versions)

I was a Eugene (Volokh) fan, not so much for what the books actually said, but how they caused me to think differently. Anyway, I can ship in any manner anyone wishes. I'm not trying to make a cent off this stuff at all, and I'd rather give it to someone instead of just recycling. Now I'm straight UNIX for the last 10 years. What a pile — well not really, but for a business platform nothing touches MPE.

You can ask Wayne for your free book by e-mailing him. Or just reach out and get your own copy of the Diercks handbook. More than 80 percent of all HP 3000s out there can make use of the Diercks book, since HP didn't sell many servers beyond the 2001 vintage.