Need a simple database for Windows 10

[Hawkmoon]

I'm prepping an old desktop computer to sell. Hard drive has been scrubbed of all files with anything relating to me (used a DoD-compliant wipe program), Windows has been updated to release 1909. I don't want to use any of my Microsoft Office licenses, so I installed a freeware office suite called (cleverly) FreeOffice. It's actually a very nice suite and it gets good reviews. Where it falls flat on its Teutonic face (it's from Germany) is that it doesn't include a database. Not even a flat file database. (They claim that functionality is built into the word processor, but at best that's not much more than a rudimentary address book.)

There are usually any number of good to excellent freeware options to paid, commercial software. Database seems to be an exception. I could use Libre Office, which includes Base, but Libre Office still uses a traditional menu structure (that's a plus for me, but probably not for younger people who learned with the Microsoft ribbon menu. FreeOffice allows the user to have whichever he/she/it prefers.)

Is there anything out there that anyone is aware of?

[cordex]

You are overthinking this. Let the buyer pick their own software.

The people who will use a database will probably appreciate less bloat because what you pick likely isn’t going to be what they want to use.  The people who want all the software preinstalled probably won’t ever use it.

[Ben]

You are overthinking this. Let the buyer pick their own software.

The people who will use a database will probably appreciate less bloat because what you pick likely isn’t going to be what they want to use.  The people who want all the software preinstalled probably won’t ever use it.

Yup, what he said. Unless you're including progs that the new owner would otherwise have had to pay hundreds of dollars for, just sell it with the OS and let them pick their own freeware or buy the progs they want.

[lee n. field]

"Me too me to!"

I agree  with cordex.   Don't worry about a database.  Most people don't need and couldn't use one.  Those that do can install their own.

[zxcvbob]

Lotus Symphony is free, but I agree that just a clean install of the OS is a better idea.

[Hawkmoon]

Around this neck of the woods, people who are buying old computers seem to want something that's ready to go. They don't want to buy or find software, they want it pre-installed. I don't think a bare operating system would be a selling point, it would be a liability.

I didn't know that Symphony even existed any more. That's one to look into. Last night, after much searching, I stumbled on one that looks promising: https://runabase.com/


[Edit to add]Looks like Symphony doesn't include a database.
https://ibm-lotus-symphony.en.softonic.com/

[WLJ]

LibreOffice
https://www.libreoffice.org/

[lee n. field]

LibreOffice
https://www.libreoffice.org/

If I read the Wikipedia article right, you may as well be getting Libre.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Lotus_Symphony

[Hawkmoon]

LibreOffice
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Already considered ...

I could use Libre Office, which includes Base, but Libre Office still uses a traditional menu structure (that's a plus for me, but probably not for younger people who learned with the Microsoft ribbon menu. FreeOffice allows the user to have whichever he/she/it prefers.)

Yes, I could use Libre Office. I would prefer to use SoftMaker FreeOffice, with something added as a database. I tried to install just Base out of Libre Office but, unlike Microsoft Office, they don't allow you to install only selected modules. The corker is that SoftMaker used to offer a database, but they dropped it a few years ago.

[AZRedhawk44]

Anyone that actually gives a crap about a database is going to have their own preferences.

MySQL or MariaDB or PostgreSQL are decent free relational DB engines, and you can use Toad as a management UI and SQL interpreter or load app.  You can also install Microsoft's SQLExpress engine (or SQL Server Developer Edition for that matter) and SQL Management Studio for free, and most Office suites can make calls to that.  Anyone that actually needs a database (as opposed to a multi-sheet spreadsheet document) will be looking that direction anyways.

Desktop "databases" are utter trash though.  Leave it at an XML-compatible spreadsheet application and call it good. 

[zxcvbob]

I thought Symphony had a database, but they must have removed it -- probably the same time they removed importing Lotus Word Pro documents.  I think I would still install Symphony, Chrome, Firefox, VLC media player, and Adobe Acrobat Reader, and call it good.  Anyone actually using a database will want their own, like maybe MySQL.

[lee n. field]

You can also install Microsoft's SQLExpress engine (or SQL Server Developer Edition for that matter) and SQL Management Studio for free, a

There you go, Hawkmoon.  Express is free, and Joe User is unlikely to hit the limits of Express.

[cordex]

There you go, Hawkmoon.  Express is free, and Joe User is unlikely to hit the limits of Express.

But Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio doesn't have the ribbon menu ...

[Hawkmoon]

The kind of people who are going to buy a 15+ year old computer are not people who want or need MySQL -- or who even know what it is. This was a business-grade computer when I bought it, but that was a very long time ago. The likely market is either elderly folks (ouch, how it hurts to type that), or a family on a very tight budget who can't afford something new. I expect their database needs would be on the order of an address book, a Christmas card list, maybe some sort of home inventory. Nothing business-related or "enterprise-grade."

[zxcvbob]

That sounds like you want Microsoft Works.

[Ben]

The kind of people who are going to buy a 15+ year old computer are not people who want or need MySQL -- or who even know what it is. This was a business-grade computer when I bought it, but that was a very long time ago. The likely market is either elderly folks (ouch, how it hurts to type that), or a family on a very tight budget who can't afford something new. I expect their database needs would be on the order of an address book, a Christmas card list, maybe some sort of home inventory. Nothing business-related or "enterprise-grade."

Elderly? They must be 1000 years old if they plan on using a database prg as an address book.  

[K Frame]

"I expect their database needs would be on the order of an address book, a Christmas card list, maybe some sort of home inventory. Nothing business-related or "enterprise-grade."


Yeah... that's where an Excel-type spreadsheet would shine.

None of the learning curve of an actual database type program and more than flexible enough for any of those applications.

[Ben]

"I expect their database needs would be on the order of an address book, a Christmas card list, maybe some sort of home inventory. Nothing business-related or "enterprise-grade."


Yeah... that's where an Excel-type spreadsheet would shine.

None of the learning curve of an actual database type program and more than flexible enough for any of those applications.

Yes. My non-snarky response is all those things can be done in Excel, Word, or the LibreOffice equivalents, including mailing label or envelope printing, and much more easily and intuitively than in a full blown database. Or there are a bajillion freeware prgs that will do that stuff for you. Not to mention the Gazoogles and smart phones.

[lee n. field]

That sounds like you want Microsoft Works.

Which is long gone. * 

"Office 2010 Starter Edition" replaced it in bundled software category, and that didn't last very long either.

---edit to add---

*and didn't have the "ribbon interface", which, I gather, is something MS patented.

[zxcvbob]

Which is long gone. 

"Office 2010 Starter Edition" replaced it in bundled software category, and that didn't last very long either.

I think Works is still available for free download at places like CNET.

[lee n. field]

I think Works is still available for free download at places like CNET.

Euuu!  No. 

Just die, MS Works.  Proprietary default format, no real reason for its continued existence, with better free alternatives available.

[AZRedhawk44]

I don't get the positive reviews the Ribbon interface has for some people.

It takes up more room, reduces the number of options you have on screen, and hides lots of options from conventional access.  It's every bit as awful as the smart/adaptive start menu that was introduced in Win98 and the evolution to a double-tier start menu in XP.  Bigger fonts and pictures that bias functionality or applications.

I use MS Office on my work computer because our company's product integrates with it, but on my personal computers I favor LibreOffice.

[WLJ]

View -> User Interface -> Tabbed
In LibreOffice to switch to a ribbon type menu
 

[Hawkmoon]

I don't get the positive reviews the Ribbon interface has for some people.

I agree completely. I keep Office 2003 on my computers, along with Office 2010, 2013, or 2016 (some of each -- I have too many notebook computers to buy multiple licenses for, so I keep using the old family packs of Office 2010 Home & Student). I hate the ribbon interface. I can't find anything.

I also didn't know that Libre Office offers it as an option. The reason I want the ribbon available on the machine I'm gearing up to sell is that some people may want it. I've read numerous reviews of various programs in which the reviewers complain when a program has an "antiguated" (conventional) menu system.

[Hawkmoon]

View -> User Interface -> Tabbed
In LibreOffice to switch to a ribbon type menu
 

Not an option in release 6.1.6.3, which I believe is the most recent stable version. Are you in the power user channel?