Here at MalariaGEN, we use MySQL extensively, and there are myriad nice GUI tools for accessing it from our Ubuntu desktops. However, we also use Microsoft SQL Server for some of our particularly large laboratory data, and we wanted to access MS SQL Server databases on Ubuntu (11.04 Natty Narwhal) with a GUI, preferably with open source software.
Here is how to set up one such tool (SQuirrel SQL). Note that we will install the application system wide; it is also possible to install it in your home directory, and to create the custom launcher in .local/share/applications if you like. We’re focussed on the install process on Ubuntu 11.04 with Unity, but these instructions should work on other modern linux distros without too much modification. (more…)
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