This week OpenMPE reminded the community about work with HP. The rules of engagement between Hewlett-Packard's 3000 group and the OpenMPE advocates are designed to reduce news. The advocates and an HP 3000 liaison enter executive session to talk about the most important elements of HP's end-game. It's a Cone of Silence, just like the one you may have seen in school board meetings, to discuss sensitive issues with no detailed reporting. This cone works better than the one Max and The Chief used on Get Smart.

While we don't know the details of those talks, we do know what is being discussed in general: licensing needed to operate a 3000 emulator. HP and OpenMPE have said as much during the summertime, although HP would never announce such a process before it was completed. HP was never keen to announce features in upcoming versions of MPE/iX before completion, either.

But it's safe to assume that when a conference call takes place in two successive OpenMPE meetings less than three weeks apart, between a half-dozen advocates and HP's Jeff Bandle, the groups are discussing more than football or fall foliage. OpenMPE's Webmaster John Dunlop pointed to meeting minutes of the group he posted online, minutes that show who's talking and when.