Yes ODBC is available - but due to some security concerns with how it handles passwords, it is not often installed on production boxes. In FreeBSD for instance it is in the "ports" collection as a standard add-on that you can choose to install at any time. The same is true in Linux, and I understand even on Solaris.

If ODBC is installed on the operating system, then you should be able to use the DBI to access it with the DBD::ODBC module.

If it is not installed, you may want to look here or here for how to install and get the drivers on a Linux box.