[thelist] Database Licensing Question

[Burhan Khalid]

Hello All:

   I'm going to be writing an application that will be using a database 
to store some information and print reports.  The application will be 
closed source, and its for sale to a client.

   Now, the issue is with the database backend that I will use.  MySQL, 
if I read the licensing page correctly, will require me to purchase a 
commercial license because the product is closed source.

   Since the database is nothing complex (and really, nothing that 
warrants MySQL), I was thinking of other alternatives.  The first thing 
that popped in my mind was Access and mdb files.

   Since I'm new to Access as a backend, I have a few questions :

   1. Does the end user need to have a copy of Access installed for my 
application to be able to use mdb files?

   2. If the end user decides to upgrade Access, will this affect my 
application in anyway?

   3. Any other issues I should be aware of?

   Does someone have any suggestions for other database backends that I 
can research?  The coding language has not been decided yet, but it will 
be a tossup between .NET (C#) and Java.

   Any guidance recieved graciously,

Happy Holidays!
Burhan