Posted by: Anonymous Coward
on September 27, 2002 09:43 PM
Are there any RDBMSes in the Linux world with front-ends/UIs comparable to Access? If there are, I'm not yet aware of them. Therefore, I have to say that Access is also a deal-breaker.
MySQL and PostgreSQL are superior RDBMSes, no question, but they are engines, back-ends. Where's the user interface that is manipulable by the end user? This is extremely important for people who use a database not as data entry clerks but as analysts.
For instance, that visual query grid is extraordinarily useful for a million things, not least of which is analyzing data without having to write long, complicated SQL statement (although you still have to do that for a few things like Union joins). It is just so productive to have a user-friendly front end. (Just like Paradox, lo those many years ago.)
For a professional developer who is satisfied to create databases from the command line and create some kind of front-end in, say, PHP, the Linux solutions may be workable. But for your so-called knowledge-worker type, Access is an extraordinarily valuable tool.
I'd LOVE to be Microsoft-free. But until the Linux community gets inspired to write an Access-like DB (or, possibly even better, give MySQL or PostgreSQL such a UI!), I have no option. I'd even be happy with something as rummy as FileMaker (which offers a Linux server, but no client). I'm looking forward to a solution, but until then....
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Re:That's cool
Posted by: Anonymous Coward on September 27, 2002 09:43 PMMySQL and PostgreSQL are superior RDBMSes, no question, but they are engines, back-ends. Where's the user interface that is manipulable by the end user? This is extremely important for people who use a database not as data entry clerks but as analysts.
For instance, that visual query grid is extraordinarily useful for a million things, not least of which is analyzing data without having to write long, complicated SQL statement (although you still have to do that for a few things like Union joins). It is just so productive to have a user-friendly front end. (Just like Paradox, lo those many years ago.)
For a professional developer who is satisfied to create databases from the command line and create some kind of front-end in, say, PHP, the Linux solutions may be workable. But for your so-called knowledge-worker type, Access is an extraordinarily valuable tool.
I'd LOVE to be Microsoft-free. But until the Linux community gets inspired to write an Access-like DB (or, possibly even better, give MySQL or PostgreSQL such a UI!), I have no option. I'd even be happy with something as rummy as FileMaker (which offers a Linux server, but no client). I'm looking forward to a solution, but until then....
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