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I am waiting for a Linux database program with a useable front end.

In the world of real databases, Access is a sad joke. It's useful for two things, in my experience:

1) It's a good way to import and/or export stuff to a real database since it speaks many "languages". (There are some limitations here though. A large table with too many fields or indexes will make Access choke.)

2) It has decent reporting capabilities.

A big part of my living is replacing old Access dbs with something stable that multiple users can work in simultaneously. (Oracle for big stuff, Firebird for small to medium stuff)

The sad part about your comment is that you apparently believe Access is a real database program. Real databases don't HAVE a user-level front end. They leave the front end for an application developer to create.

Of course it is a "real" database program. It is a real database with am integrated user front end. Any program that can re-sort and organize data is a database program. dBase II is a database. WHen the front end was added to dBase III+ it was still a database. The piece of crap in Microsoft Works is a database. Even Lotus 1-2-3 is a type of database. A lot of the stuff that I work with is flatfile and doesn't require high-end relational capabilities.

Saying that real databases don't have integrated front-ends is as ridiculous as saying that real text editors and word processors don't have integrated print spoolers and preview modes. I don't want to go back to TECO, XSET and SuperWYLBER.

I have never represented my self as being a big shot database developer. People I work with use Access. I prefer FileMaker Pro (another unreal program). And, as it turns out, the reporting capabilities (using Excel data) is what my associate mainly uses Access for.