The HN re-entry, and the argument this project exists to make. See docs/roadmap-v1.4-v1.5.md.
Why this, and not "Why I rebuilt dBASE III in 2026"
The original launch-kit plan was a nostalgia diary entry. The Show HN thread handed us a much better argument, and it isn't about dBASE at all:
"I'm not nostalgic about the tech of those years, but I definitely think that we unlearned a few things along the way."
— myth2018, HN
"…so the users can customize the app with the same power as us. This is one of the most important advantages of ERPs and such made with Fox and is still unmatched."
— mamcx, HN — a 25-year ISV, currently building tablam.org out of the same conviction
"if the ERP allows the customer to do their own custom reports and forms… they won't pay you extra customization fees?"
— nottorp, HN — the joke that names why the capability disappeared
Thesis: xBase's real advantage was never the dot prompt — it was that the tools that built the app shipped with the app. The end user could open the screen painter and the report writer and change their own software. The web took that away and never gave it back, and the business incentive not to give it back is the punchline of nottorp's joke.
Why it's the right HN move
A second Show HN for a point release is a repost — the first did 96 points, which counts as significant attention, so a repost inside a year gets flagged. A blog post is a fresh artifact and a legitimate normal HN submission. It also does something a Show HN can't: it makes an argument, with a working artifact behind it.
Scope
The HN re-entry, and the argument this project exists to make. See
docs/roadmap-v1.4-v1.5.md.Why this, and not "Why I rebuilt dBASE III in 2026"
The original launch-kit plan was a nostalgia diary entry. The Show HN thread handed us a much better argument, and it isn't about dBASE at all:
Thesis: xBase's real advantage was never the dot prompt — it was that the tools that built the app shipped with the app. The end user could open the screen painter and the report writer and change their own software. The web took that away and never gave it back, and the business incentive not to give it back is the punchline of nottorp's joke.
Why it's the right HN move
A second Show HN for a point release is a repost — the first did 96 points, which counts as significant attention, so a repost inside a year gets flagged. A blog post is a fresh artifact and a legitimate normal HN submission. It also does something a Show HN can't: it makes an argument, with a working artifact behind it.
Scope