Is there a open alternative to MS Access?


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Thread: Is there a open alternative to MS Access?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    UK (unfortunately)
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    Is there a open alternative to MS Access?

    Hi all,

    I have a couple of MS Access databases that are on my server and Im wondering if I can access and run them from linux. Ive seen the likes of kexi, but does it work with opening mdb's?

    Just wanted to check what the best alternative is before downloading, thanks!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    New Orleans, LA USA
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    986
    Honestly I never found a working solution for direct access. If someone responds with one I'd be happy to have it. What I've done is flatten Access files to Excel then OpenOffice (or guess it's Libre Office now) can read them fine. Not every Access database converts to Excel without hiccups though. In that case, I VM a XP instance just to get what I need from it - not ideal I know.
    "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect."

    -Mark Twain

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 1999
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    Rancho Cordova, CA
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    14

    Exclamation

    I agree w/ the above poster, Open Office has Base Office which is the counter program to MS Access. Don't forget that there is Libre Office Base as well.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    UK (unfortunately)
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    Would Base work in accessing a mdb program database on my server? I might have to give it a try.

    Unfortunately converting it to excel isnt an option as it is quite a complex program/database/form. Virtualisation isnt an option either as Im thinking of doing this on a Raspberry.

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    If you are going to a Pi (YAY, glad someone else is playing with it!) - you may consider Access to MySQL convert?
    "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect."

    -Mark Twain

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by trilarian View Post
    If you are going to a Pi (YAY, glad someone else is playing with it!) - you may consider Access to MySQL convert?
    If I can get hold of one. It is really annoying me that the distribution of the Pi has been so poorly thought out. I don't know if it is deliberate or just a terrible blunder?

    But when I do get hold of one (or more), hurrah! Have you got one yet by the way? I've got quite a few different thoughts for it. If it handles video quite well, I could use it in conjunction with a 2.5" HDD for a portable media player such as taking films and music to a friends house or when I go away.

    One other idea I had, is to make it truly portable. I might try to scour a few places to pick up damaged netbooks/phones with OK screens and then since they claim the Pi can be powered by a few 1.5v batteries, I was thinking about wind up radios, clocks and torches and whether it would be possible to power a Pi with that energy?


    Thanks for the linky, I'll boot in to win7 and give it a shot. When I first started the databases years back, I just used mdb's as they were very easy.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    New Orleans, LA USA
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    986
    I signed up late, so haven't received one yet. My friend was one of the first to sign on though and has his. So I get to play with it in short intervals of time if I'm over. Though I dislike the way it is being handled, I completely understand. They simply did not predict its massive popularity. Hell their site was down for nearly a month like it was under DDoS attacks simply by people rushing to buy them.

    I think they were aiming for schools to get kids interested early on, breeding new engineers and programmers. The mod and DIY community jumped on board swiftly.

    I'll be patient. I have a number of proto-boards like a 68HC11 and Dragon12, as well as single chips like PICs and 8088s. So its not like I can't play with projects in the interim.
    "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect."

    -Mark Twain

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Malawi
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    see ya again

    hope you will do same things again

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 1999
    Location
    Santa Cruz, CA, USA
    Posts
    1,212

    My solution...

    I had a similar issue, what I ended up doing is purchasing RealBASIC (now I use RealStudio) and then I use SQLite3 as the underlying database. By doing this I have a solid, fast and cross platform database application that comes with a killer RAD GUI that's pretty easy to use.

    Also the application I wrote to replace the Access database is 1000 times more stable AND robust. Dunno... it got me a raise and a new office.
    One by one the penguins steal my sanity...

    Vanpooling now...

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