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Re: [LUG] DATABASE FOR LINUX

On Mon, 8 Nov 2004, Neil Winchurst wrote:
I have written many databases for small companies, originally DOS based
then later Windows based. I have tried out very many programs and I
finally settled on Borland Paradox. I found this to be the easiest to
set up and it was rock solid (as far as any Windows program can be). No
client ever had any problems with it. One of the things that I liked
most about it was the search facility which was very powerful yet easy
for clients to use.

Since moving to Linux I have found that the one area where there is not
at the moment anything to compare with Windows programs is an equivalent
to Paradox or Access. It simply does not exist. There are database
programs, of course, some of them very powerful, but as far as I have
been able to discover none of them is self-contained.

What do I mean by that? Well, Rekall for example can be set up as a
front end to Mysql or Postgresql. So you have to have two database
programs running on your computer. All the Linux databases I have found
so far seem to be the same if you want a GUI front end. You can set up
Mysql for example to run by itself but it will not have a GUI. No way
could any of my clients use that setup.

Access and Paradox however are complete in that the GUI and the database
engine are all included in the one program. You do not need anything
else. To me this seems the obvious way to be.

and you run linux because ?
( Personally I run linux / *bsd because everything isn't lumped together in one monolithic program, that requires a specific OS to run and includes junk that I don't need or want . Plus, just because Access appears to be one program, doesn't mean it is. It requires all the windows runtime dlls etc. etc.
What you appear to be asking for, is something that does all the work of creating forms for you. )


I am talking here about databases for small companies, remember, which
will not have many records. None of my clients so far have more than
about 100,000 records. And all clients will expect a GUI front end.

Do they expect to create their own forms, or use pre-generated ones ?
If its the latter, then its as easy as writing a cgi script for the net. Even the first option is possible, with a little thought and effort.
And as a bonus, anything you do create that uses Mysql / Postgres / Oracle / W.H.Y. will be network ready from the word go, unlike Access, which is useless over a network ( it's not even designed with that in mind), and requires a specific OS on every machine that accesses the database (with attendant licensing issues ! ).

I have winXP running MySQL / PHP4 / Perl 5.8 / Apache 2 and serving database functions over a small network , and I didn't really have to try too hard. The databases I have created on that machine are accessable from any OS and from any machine on the LAN or WAN (WWW).
Do yourself a favour, and try something lightweight and simple. You won't regret it.

alan

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