I don't think we need to get into semantics as to what constitutes a GUI. I assumed the OP meant something easy to administer the db and not use command line. I personally found the mysql admin console extremely frustrating, but I like command line. _____ From: Andrew Kerber [mailto:andrew.kerber@xxxxxxxxx] Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2010 8:25 AM To: ganstadba@xxxxxxxxxxx Cc: oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Why is Oracle unaffordable? Sorry, grid control is HTML, it is not GUI, and the difference is noticeable. At the most basic level, grid control is a 3 tier application, while a GUI front end is single tier. On Tue, Nov 9, 2010 at 6:59 AM, Michael McMullen <ganstadba@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: #2 is true, I took over the management of two db's that unskilled users installed and managed themselves to the point the db was inoperable.