Access Alternatives

[Christopher Browne]

On 9/17/05, Walter Dnes <waltdnes-SLHPyeZ9y/tg9hUCZPvPmw at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> > >   Access 1.0 was a joke compared to dBASE.
> >
> > Access isn't a joke?
> 
>   Is there a similar app for linux for the person who doesn't want to be
> a DBA and set up and admin MySQL or PostgreSQL ?

The fundamental problem is that a piece of software that subsumes the
functionality of both Access *and* a half decent database will be,
remarkably enough, BIGGER and MORE COMPLEX than, say, PostgreSQL.

Consider that a full install of PostgreSQL consists of about 12MB
worth of binaries (that's how big the install is on my laptop).  That
is, in fact, relatively SMALL.  It is difficult to find an application
with interesting "monolithic" functionality with a GUI where the
widget libraries won't be that large or larger.

I haven't seen an MS Access installation lately; I'd be quite
unsurprised to find it being 10x larger than that.

The VAST complexity that this implies points to why you haven't see
much of anything emerging as an alternative.  It takes *way* more code
to implement a sophisticated GUI front end for hooking to databases
than it does to implement a database engine as sophisticated as
PostgreSQL.

In effect, it's easier to script up some sort of web application that
*isn't* "general purpose" which will satisfy one's immediate needs. 
Someone may start the "Let's Clone MS Access" project, but once they
determine that it's tougher than building a decent DBMS, they're
likely to backstep to something that's not of such general interest.

The package that I have most commonly seen being suggested as being
*vaguely* comparable to Access on Linux is "Gambas"
<http://gambas.sf.net/> which is a sort of "Visual BASIC" clone.
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