Thread

Microsoft killed FoxPro in 2007. Anyway, here's FoxPro revived

487 points · 270 comments · boredjohnny

ksec · 1790138328 · focus · HN ↗
I know there are still a few niche industry that has an industry standard program written in Visual FoxPro, and I remember as pre COVID 2019 they were still using it. ( Edit: I just called and asked, still using it as of 2026 )
Niche but no small business, commodity with over $400M USD annual revenue, the industry together that is easily $2B+.
If it is not broke, don't fix it. And there are industry that is extremely conservative in anything software, they will just keep it running for as long as they could.
I used to be sad that we don't have something better to replace these antique software. Now I have come to appreciate it, mostly because newer software haven't show they have manage to add value in the slightest. And most of the time they simply don't work as well.
Delphi, Visual FoxPro, Visual Basic, Flash. I used to think one day we will have something that is not only faster, easier and scalable replacement of those. Instead everything went more technical, more complex, enterprisy and non-user friendly.
And to the Author of the project. Thank You for making it.
1. esseph · 1790173605 · focus · HN ↗
  > Niche but no small business, commodity with over $400M USD annual revenue, the industry together that is easily $2B+.
  This feels so small in 2026.
  1. cestith · 1790197408 · focus · HN ↗
    It feels small to some people in 2026, depending on the business type and the field. Most businesses are small businesses, though. It actually approaches 100%. This is under the SBA's definition as of not long ago. There are limits on earnings, number of employees, or both for what can even be considered a "small business" that vary by industry. They are as low as $9 million revenue or 100 employees, although some industries have much higher ceilings. <a href="https://legacy.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/Table%20of%20Size%20Standards_Effective%20March%2017%2C%202023%20%282%29.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://legacy.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/Table%20o...
    The average annual revenue of a small business in the US in 2026 is around $1.2 million. The average headcount is about 11 people. About 46% of employees in the US are employed by small businesses. In 2024, about 64% of new jobs were created by small businesses. About 61% of new jobs from 1991 to 2025 were created in small businesses.
    <a href="https://entrepreneurshq.com/small-business-statistics/" rel="nofollow">https://entrepreneurshq.com/small-business-statistics/
    <a href="https://www.forafinancial.com/blog/small-business/average-small-business-revenue/" rel="nofollow">https://www.forafinancial.com/blog/small-business/average-sm...
    <a href="https://www.venasolutions.com/blog/small-business-revenue-statistics" rel="nofollow">https://www.venasolutions.com/blog/small-business-revenue-st...
    esseph · 1790197660 · focus · HN ↗
    As a small business owner, aware of all of this.
    That said:
    > It feels small to some people in 2026, depending on the business type and the field
    $2Bn was stated as the size of an entire industry, which is weird when you work at companies that do more than that a fiscal quarter.
    cestith · 1790258358 · focus · HN ↗
    Well, commodities are commodities, and it was said it was a niche market. The company itself seems pretty big to me, relatively. $400m in a market of about $2b means they fill a pretty substantial part of the available market.

Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.