I'm sure this covers too much ground, but...
I haven't programmed in 10 years or so, but for 25 yrs before I did. I want to get some custom work done without learning C# or much of any code - My first brush with OO Org's Base program was very encouraging. It got me into a simple edit grid, on my Thunderbird address book in a few minutes. For the past few months I've worked on Word and Excel documents in OO and have been totally satisfied.

10 years ago I tried to make this transition but I actually quit programming at that point. I want to automate my current life as the owner of an adult family home. Lists of clients, visitors, doctors, pills, activities, reminders... In the past I used Clarion (which only ran on Windows) and there was no stopping it.

Now, I have been given a 4 yr old PC and three year old laptop that I can completely wipe and install Linux. What a world of choices.

Will Open Office Base allow multiple related files? Multiple keys per file? Can I "join" two or more files and access that as a virtual file? What about multi-user access and file size limitations? I'm feeling terribly out of touch...

too many questions. Thanks in advance for your help.

Let's start with the first thing...

If Window's interface is what you are used to, KDE will be your more comfortable environment. For ease of use, in terms of upgrades, etc., I favor Debian package management over RedHat package management (I've used them both over roughly equivalent time frames),... That means, primarily, that Kubuntu, and similar distributions, are in the lead...

KDE has the Akonadi server (doesn't run ON a server, but serves the machines it's on), which I don't favor, but you might. It's purpose is to organize a user's social data more efficiently.

3 year old machines are rather perfect for Linux. Just the right blend of power and market penetration to have the drivers for their hardware be readily available.

Modern distros use LibreOffice, which is better able to handle what you might need than OpenOffice (development has largely switched to LO, over OO). File size limitations are a combination of what the app can handle and what the file system can handle. An EXT4 filesystem can handle anything you're apt to throw at it. I don't know LO's limitations, but bynthe time you get to files of that size, your better off with a mySQL database over a spreadsheet file...

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I definitely want to work with a mySQL database. At this point I'm just warming up to the thought of getting back into the database arena. My previous project experience included a couple of systems with 35+ files and records into nearly 1 million and I'd like to work in an arena without file size limits. For now, my project is much smaller but I still want it to work for me not me work in spite of it.

Some particulars:
are you saying that Kubuntu uses the KDE but... too many particulars.:-0

I want to make use of a fairly basic database to complete multiple forms for our adult family home and I'd like to use open source for all of it. mySQL, OO or LO, older machines and (new "requirement") I'd like some of the updating and/or reporting to happen via smartphones and allow voice-to-text something like the operation of Dragon Naturally Speaking on windows. And ultimately interact with the RingCentral (or similar) cloud-based phone system. That is, the database that drives our contract fields should be able to take remote updates and place phone calls about those updates.

Is this enough for you to say : "download x, y, and z from <someplace.com> and you probably won't go too crazy?" I know that's a mouthful, but for now I need a contract filled out from a simple database. Then I'd like to build from a pretty robust foundation.

Thanks

Install MySQL. It should be in the Ubuntu Software Center.

Then check out this tutorial: http://www.mysqltutorial.org/

First though, you might want to take a look at The Linux Documentation Project; there's a wealth of resources there for new and experienced users.

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I'm not quite sure what software environments (besides Windows) you've used up-to-now, Herschel, but I think that you will definitely find the Linux environment to be an eye-opening experience. And, from this point forward, you will realize just how limited the Windows environment is (and always has been).

Most of all, whereas the Microsoft-centric environments are, well, "Microsoft-centric," the Linux environment (and Unix, by extension) definitely hearken back to that ol' original PDP-7, where there was no "single, unifying vendor," and there never, ever was. In this environment, you have choices where you never expected choices to be: having multiple choices about the graphic user interface (GUI) itself, for example. Or, the notion of having no GUI at all. Or(!), the completely alien (until now ... ) notion of running a GUI session over the Internet with a computer that doesn't even have a graphic card ... and doing so without the cockamamie kludge that is "remote desktop." That's only the beginning.

You'll find this environment to be completely liberating ... and, most likely, at least at first you'll find the environment to be quite unnerving. Superficially it seems "similar to Windows," and yet it reveals itself to be completely and utterly different. "Completely and utterly different," I might add, "in a way that makes you wonder why you spent so much time with Microsoft."

(P.S.: I am "more than 25 years 'in,'" too. And, all I can say to you is: "Hang on to your hat! How long has it been since you could say that you've had fun with a computer?!" From one ol' hacker to another... "Think you know what that ol' PC in front of you can do? Yeah? Watch this!")

Let the fun begin. Again.

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If you're going to get into the cmd line, this will be useful
http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz

In addition to the above mysql tutorial, here's the home page for the reference material http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/

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I'd like to thank all the replies... Technical and otherwise. I don't (yet) see how to reply to any ONE post, but hey, I looked at downloading Debian and got nowhere so perhaps my "technical development" days are over. I seem to have a VERY impatient nature these days. When I look at posts here I see pages filled with odd words and phrases that assume I know the lingo. Nada, nothing, zip.

Sundialsvcs really touched a nerve with me - brought tears to my eyes just talking about DOING SOMETHING CREATIVE again. It has been a long time and yes, a very long time since I had fun with the computer. I can envision working with a real multi-tasking os, without a screen or keyboard, with voice control and ... I just don't see how I'm going to get from where I am to where I'd have to be to do something like that. Can I get a direct email link to Sundialsvcs? It looks like that's a no-no, but I'm stuck for the encouragement I heard ... Marysville, WA.

You can find instructions about how to download the Debian *.iso files here:

http://www.debian.org/CD/

If you have an internet connection, the "netinstall" is the way to go; you start it with a CD, then finish by downloading packages from the net, so you don't have to burn multiple disks. I've done it several times and it's worked flawlessly each time: http://www.debian.org/distrib/netinst

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Advise: remove your email address (in post #7) unless your a sucker for spam

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