SIMS inform us that they will not be developing their software for Linux because apparently there is no appropriate SQL server available

Erm ... What database do they use at the moment ? Most database suppliers (with one obvious exception ;-) are porting their database systems to Linux (don't know which are SQL though) eg Informix, Adabas, Ingres, Velocis, Sybase Open Source ones include : - PostgreSQL - MySQL There are also ODBC drivers for Linux so I guess you should be able to 'talk' to ODBC data sources too (eg MS access, etc) See : http://www.linux.org/apps/database.html Kevin.