the background

There are some 'workhorse' utility perl scripts that need to be converted (or retro-fitted) to work with a "desktop database" style application. The question is, what are the options and what do perlmonks prefer?

the specification

If you are familiar with MSFT Access, or FileMaker Pro, you have an idea of what I am talking about. The application is data-centric, and needs to have a flexible, but intuitive front end (GUI) for 'non-techies'.

the candidates

The first thought was MySQL, but this is more 'client-server' and may be overkill, plus I'm not aware of GUI front-end options. Access and FileMaker are options, but they are not open-source, which is preferred. Something that works with Perl would be a plus, to ease the burden of retro-fitting. You might have guessed this is targeting Windows, but cross-platform is not a bad thing either.

the question

Is there anything out there that meets the spec? Do any of the perlmonks out there use something that matches these or similar requirements? What is the 'state of the art' these days as far as 'desktop' databases go?

20041009 Edit by castaway: Changed title from 'slightly OT "Desktop Database" options'

In reply to (OT) "Desktop Database" options by dimar

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