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Intel Gets PA-RISC Engineers
Doctor_D writes "Well it looks like Intel has done it again. They have absorbed more processor engineers, this time from HP. Alpha is gone, PA-RISC is going, what's going to be left? MIPS? SPARC? AMD? Crusoe? "
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I am an engineer in HP's primary PA-RISC processor development lab. I still work for HP. I still work on PA-RISC chips as do hundreds of my co-workers. Let me be clear about this: HP is NOT getting rid of its PA-RISC line or selling it to Intel or anybody else.
/. sensationalist headline and try to get the facts.
The group that was transfered to Intel worked on chipset development for some of HP's servers and workstations. Because of the economic conditions, it was deemed unfeasible to keep that group in HP, so instead of laying them all off, a deal was worked out to give them jobs at Intel. I'd say the engineers in that group are in a lot better shape than many of my other co-workers across the company who just got layed off in August.
Anyway, my point is that PA-RISC isn't dead. There are still a lot of people working on both CPUs and chipsets. We will be doing a number of iterations yet of the PA processor family before HP transitions to using IPF in the long term (we're talking years from now). Ignore the classic
My company develops for HP-UX and solaris. We actually sell (indirectly) about 400 M $ worth of HP-UX and Solaris servers. That's a lot!
Well, there have been many in product management that were dismayed at HP's feet-dragging commitment to hteir own platform. HP has been yoyo-ing back and forth between WindowsNT and HP-UX a bit too much, and this might be the nail in the coffin, as far as our platform of choice is concerned. We'll probably standardize on Sun computers. If it happens, I must say HP really did it to itself.
Sigged!
At the time, I was very, very proud to say I worked for them. I bragged about the fact that I was employed by a company that had, in the 1970s, decided to give everyone an across-the-board pay cut rather than go through the ordeal of layoffs. And I should point out, that decision was made based on a survey taken of the employees by upper management. Hey Carly -- what was that you said about HP "not being a democray"? Yeah, right. You don't even know your company's own history!
Today, I am no longer with HP. But if I were, I'm sure I would no longer be proud to say I worked for them. You are absolutely right, Fiorina is nothing but a golden-parachuter. She doesn't give a damn about running a solid company with long term prospects, which is the way HP has always been run. She's just like every other CEO these days. She just wants to get those big, fat bonuses, even if she has to destroy the company to do it! HP is just another line on her resume as far as she's concerned. Hell, the American economy was much worse in the 1970s than it is now, and HP decided not to lay anyone off. These days, Fiorina is laying people off left and right! And does she have any sort of long term strategy for the company? No! HP is running around like a chicken with its head cut off, darting from quarter to quarter with no eye toward the future.
I'd sell all my HP stock, but it's pretty much already worthless anyway, thanks to Carly Fiorina. Ugh.
Free Hans!
This is BS. Don't even try to blame this on HP focusing on Linux. People are being cut left and right because the company isn't doing well, not so money can be reallocated to Linux projects.
HP has been transitioning its processor operation to Intel for years. HP partnered with Intel to develop the IA-64 architecture. Did anyone think that PA-RISC would continue in parallel to that forever?
No; however I do know the timescale for phasing out PA-RISC and it's not going to get cancelled any time soon. It works, whereas IA64 is _hardly_ being deployed at enterprise-level yet. It won't be around forever, true, but it's not leaving tomorrow. If IA64 doesn't work out as well as expected, HP has no intention of shooting itself in the foot.
Stick to what you know, Linux-related stuff, and don't wildly speculate on areas out of your expertise and knowledge. 'Course, lack of expertise never stopped you before...
I don't think most of them will last at Intel--even for top-level engineers, Intel runs an unpleasant and demanding working environment.
And, well, that's probably going to do a great deal of harm to HP. Because if this is how they treat their some of their best line employees, how will they treat the rest of them? HP, historically, has been an unusually good place to work. But I think this is a public sign of the end of that.
I wonder how long before all the high-tech manufacturers are unionized?
(Anonymous post because it is entirely possible that Intel keeps blacklists. It's not cowardice, it's caution, and it's going to become more common.)