There is a saddening shortage of proper MySQL administration/query browser tools on linux-based systems. MySQL Workbench is a free tool that consolidates what used to be MySQL Query Browser and the MySQL Administrator and introduces a data modelling editor that promises round-trip design and generation of DBs.
It’s great news that Workbench is being implemented and made available to the public for free, yet I can’t avoid comparing it to some of the existing solutions for other platforms.
While it’s easy to justify why Query Browser of old sucked — it was an old application that was being marginally maintained in the last several years — it’s hard to do so for a new piece of software like Workbench. Its query browser sucks, not just because of its implementation (slow, occasionally crashing, often providing inconsistent/misleading data), but also because it betrays bad design at every corner; design of the sort that disregards usability and tries to shoehorn user interaction to a flawed model chosen because it suited some developer during implementation.
The Workbench developers seem open to suggestions, and in this light I can only provide a concise piece of advice for their query browser development effort: find a Mac, download Sequel Pro, use it and then copy the damn thing: It works, it’s many times faster, more usable, covers more use-cases and is much more painless, plus it’s free and open source. Sadly, it’s not available on linux, for if it did, I wouldn’t touch Workbench with a three point oh-five metre pole.
