There are several reasons in my opinion to go for Oracle over VFP...

Oracle is better because:
client/server :Oracle allows processing to be split between the
database server and the client application programs

large databases and space management :Oracle supports the largest of databases,
potentially terabytes in size vs 2GB limit in VFP. Also you can have more then 254 columns
(but you can't use the extra columns in VFP).

many concurrent database users : Scales better for huge numbers of users.

high transaction processing performance:
high availability : You can set up multiple stand by databases.
controlled availability :Oracle can selectively control the availability of data on the server without software changes.

openness, industry standards : Oracle is more open and extensible without software changes. For example
you can create triggers to validate various business rules.

manageable security: Security can be taken care of in hundereds of ways without software modifications specific to the customer.

database enforced integrity : As in a VFP database you can use constraints to ensure data is correct according to business rules.
Again this can be done independent to the software.

distributed systems : Unlike VFP several severals can combine the data physically located on different
computers into one logical database that can be accessed by all network users.

portability : Can run Oracle on UNIX, LINUX platforms. It's software is JAVA and runs on more OS's
compatibility :It's OLE compatible, ODBC compatible across all network types ( Novel is recently desupported...)
connectibility :allows different types of computers and operating systems to share information across networks.

replicated environments :lets you replicate groups of tables and their supporting objects to multiple sites and
laptops...


It may be true that you can develop these features in VFP but in Oracle they are already there and well implemented.

On the downside.
-Expensive licensing
-Easier to administrate

To address the issue of table corruption. I can shut the power of on my server during heavy traffic
and I have never had any data corruption. It mechanisms are extremely robust. Indexes almost never need to be rebuilt except for
recovering space from deleted records. SQL queries run faster....

That's all I can think of for now...
Sorry if I sound like a commercial for Oracle.