MySQL is a free database available from My SQL AB (www.mysql.com). This database is a fully relational database environment and there are several tools available to help you manage the database.

User Management

What is a database? A database is a container of related data, usually identified by data stored in tabular, row-column format. This differs from a datastore in that a datastore usually refers to a single object. A datastore could be a PDF (Adobe Acrobat format) document, a word processing document, a picture, or some other format or document.

The most common format for databases is now SQL or Structured Query Language. This is an international standard, although there is no formal certification process to determine compliance with the published standard.

I'm a big supporter of the Freesco Linux Router project. I gave a presentation on it to the Portland Unix/Linux User Group (PLUG) in January 2003. If I can find the missing slides, I'll post them on this page. In the meantime, it is a free replacement for commerical routers supporting up to 10 ethernet/arcnet/token ring network cards and up to 8 modems. It fits completely on a floppy disk (1.44 Mb) and can run in as little as 8 Mb of RAM. Obviously, if you have more memory or install it to a harddrive, you can greatly expand it's capabilities.

There is a lot of discussion about an alternative opeerating system to Microsoft Windows called Linux.  In some ways, this the current "buzz" in the high-tech industry.  To be complete, the kernel (or main set of instructions that control the Central Processing Unit (CPU)) was developed by a young finnish student named Linus Torvalds as part of his post-baccalauratte work. The utilities used to help manage the system are mostly GNU. For more information about GNU (GNU's Not Unix) can be found at www.gnu.org.

I'm frequently asked about "utilities" to help solve some computer problem. I've always defined a utility as some small (hmmm...another relative term) piece of software to help accomplish a task. Usually the size is on the order of less than a floppy (the old 5 1/4" 360K floppy disks) but with changes in software and the use of graphical components, I've considered it a little larger. I guess I would have to describe them as something outside the normal realm of major busuiness class software (even though anti-virus and Spyware removal apply here as well!).