Running Base by Zaweba on a Mac or a Linux PC
Base by Zaweba also runs on macOS and Linux and opens the same .obase files as Windows, with two differences: no .accdb import and printing through CUPS.
Databases tend to outlive the computers they started on. A club changes treasurer, an office replaces its PCs, someone at home moves to a Mac. Base by Zaweba is ready for that. As well as Windows, it runs on macOS and Linux, and it opens the same .obase files. A database made on a Windows PC opens on a Mac or a Linux machine, and the other way round.
That has been checked against a Windows-made file, so it isn't a hopeful promise. It is the same database, with its tables, records, queries, forms and reports.
What stays the same
Each Base database is a single .obase file with SQLite inside. That makes moving between systems simple: copy the file across, by a USB stick, a shared drive or a cloud folder, and open it. There is nothing to convert and no separate export step.
Your design comes with it. Lookups and the relationships diagram, validation rules, input masks, value lists, calculated fields, queries, forms with sub-forms, reports and button scripts are all part of the file. So are the start-up form and the application title, which means the database opens the way you set it up, whichever system you open it on.
The two differences
There are two. The first is that the Mac and Linux version has no import from Microsoft Access .accdb files. Access import relies on the Access Database Engine, which is a Windows component. If you are moving an old Access database into Base, do that step on a Windows PC, save the .obase file, and then carry on wherever you like.
The second is printing. On a Mac or a Linux PC, Base prints through CUPS, the printing system those computers already use. Reports print to whatever printers your system knows about, in the normal way for that machine.
Working across systems
Many small organisations have a mix: a Windows PC in the office and a Mac at home, or a Linux laptop for the volunteer who runs the database on Saturdays. Base lets the same file move between them. The usual care about shared files applies. Keep everyone on the same version of Base if you can, because an older Base refuses a file a newer one has updated, and avoid two people changing separate copies at the same time, since their changes won't merge.
If several people need to work on the same records at once, the better route is Base's website export, which gives everyone a browser on one shared database whatever computer they use.
Getting started on a Mac or Linux PC
Install Base, open an existing .obase file or start from a template, and work as you would on Windows. If you need data from an Access database, import it on Windows first. If you need CSV or spreadsheet data, import it directly.
Check that a report prints as expected on your printer, since printing goes through a different route. Everything else should feel familiar.
Why it matters
A database you can only open on one kind of computer ties your records to that computer. Base keeps them in a single file that three systems can read. If the office changes its machines, the database goes with it, and nobody has to rebuild forms or reports.
For a club, a charity or a small business planning years ahead, that is reassuring. The records belong to you, in one file, readable on whatever you use next.
