[KLUG Members] Desktop Linux -- A VB & Access developer's view

[Adam Tauno Williams]

> http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT4260182751.html
> Quoting from article
> Customized or specialized applications that interface with a database are
> often used by businesses to expedite business processes. To move these
> programs to Linux, IT would need to ensure compatibility as part of a
> migration strategy.

Ensure compatibility WITH WHAT?

"but they all require a complete re-write and many will have difficulty working
with a Jet database where needed"

Dude!  No business with a 100+ employees in their right mind is using a JET
database;  or if they are they are looking for an exit strategy.

"A manual conversion is not viable at my organization -- our main application
consists of 320 forms and 86,000 lines of code. Quite a challenge for a wet
Sunday afternoon!"

Well, that was what we call a MISTAKE.  Made a few in my time, inherited several
of them - my advice in a scenario like this - "Suck it up",  figure out what it
DOES, and get it replaced.  Yea, it is painful.  Push business logic type
functions out of the end-user application and up-the-pipe,  and sometimes your
surprised how much smaller your application just became, and replacing it, and
possibly replacing it again, becomes much less painful (of course they don't
have this option on a peace-of-crap database solution like JET).

And thats ~268 lines of code per form,  doesn't sound like a terribly efficient
environment to me.

> What list members think about possible application on Linux like VB/Access?
> What about MySQL or Pgsql with Qt or GNONE? 

Yes, but that won't "expedite business processes".  Stop thinking about 'the
database';  'expidition' is performed by creating a vertical function interface
to an EXISTING database (whatever that may be).  We do this all the time.  'The
database' is usually an ODBC DSN.

Most of these vertical tools are low transaction count so creating an intranet
solution (Apache + PHP [or whatever]) is the most cost-effective way to go.

You can build native UI's on LINUX, today, NO PROBLEM.  Any programmer (or even
sys-admin) who can't bang together an interface in Glade & C# in a couple of
hours isn't worth his/her salt.  Or you can use Open Office's database forms,
which are actually rather nice, if it is the type of user who will have the
office suite open anyway (so that the bulk introduced by this approach isn't an
issue).

If they mean compatibility with Access - please, no.  (Although the ability to
reliably read the *$@(@ MDB files would be nice,  mdbtools has just been so
close for so so very long).

> Is it possible to create
> console-based apps in Linux?

Sure, but why?