[ale] Linux Frontend to MS Access

[Mike Harrison]

> The problem with this as I understand it (and I'm not certain I understand it 
> very well, that's why I'm asking here) is that there is no Linux ODBC driver 
> for Microsoft Access (ie Jet) that has write support. MDB Tools [1] has an

As last I played in the world, you are correct. Better migration path:

1. Convince them to dump Access for M$-SQL (often not that hard, Microsoft
    will help you here.. ). Decent MS-Apps and if I remember correctly,
    even Access itself seamlessly will use an M$-SQL server.

2. Use Sybase 11.0.3 (Free for commercial use on Linux) instead of M$-SQL.
    Properly setup, indistinguishable by most code from M$-SQL, as it's
    what M$-SQL is based on (Sybase version 7 was the original M$-SQL, I
    think). You can even use some of the excellent windows client MS-SQL admin
    tools on it.

Caveat: I haven't done this in the last couple of years, so things have 
probably changed, but I have, more than once.


and of course:

0. Heavy Multi-user use of .MDB file often results in row/record locking issues,
    slow everything, locked applications, and corrupt data, it's just not meant for that.