Ask HN: Who's still keeping a DOS machine up because the business depends on it?
An Ask HN poster seeks operators still running business-critical DOS software and ISA-card instruments.
A Hacker News poster is asking who still depends on DOS-era tools such as dBase, Clipper, CLARION, or Paradox running on period hardware. The post also asks about CNC machines, spectrometers, microscopes, and other instruments controlled by ISA cards, plus software protected by parallel-port dongles. The author says they are researching how to keep those workloads running, including on modern hardware, and are not selling anything.
- Asks who still runs DOS RAD tools for live business processes.
- Also covers ISA-card instruments and parallel-port dongles.
- Poster says the inquiry is research, not a sales pitch.
Full article91 words · extracted from news.ycombinator.com · click to collapse
Do you currently work with or know anyone who is still using:
* dBase/Clipper/CLARION/Paradox/other DOS RAD environments on period hardware to run business processes?
* CNC mills/spectrometers/microscopes/other industrial instruments controlled by ISA cards (either bespoke or standards like GPIB)?
* Anything with a parallel port dongle?
If so, I'd be very interested in hearing your experience here, or feel free to send me an email at the address in my profile. I'm not trying to sell anything, just doing some research for an idea around keeping these going on modern hardware.
Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49848955