I moved to MySQL on the server and Linux on the desktop, but for years missed a workable visual IDE, that was a real Linux tool. I won some time using php applications, until finally I discovered Gambas. I started to play with the IDE, and discovered an active development team. By the time I got used to the ugly mascotte, they finished version 2: nice, fast, true to the linux/unix concepts, and it felt very good in the KDE-environment I was using. But I could also choose to make a new project "cross-platform" (no, not to MS - I mean cross-desktop on Linux, my platforms); then you just get the common subset of buttons, dialogs, lists etc. to choose from for the screens. With one button you make a tar.gz file of your project (source + files), another button to compile to a .gambas application with a startup icon on the desktop. I installed and used it on completely different distro's as (K)Ubuntu, openSuse, Fedora, etc. Gambas is at version 3.x for the moment, and it put the fun back in programming for the desktop (althoug a commandline application can be done as well). The IDE itself is programmed in Gambas, to somehow prove their point I think. In the beginning I used it together with phpMyAdmin, but since a while it has its own database manager.

If you skip all the answers with php (you already know), Python, javascript (you already mentioned), you might discover this: Gambas, a programming language + IDE. I use it for the cases you describe: - interpreted rather than compiled - web enabled select "CGI Web Application" and / or "network programming". - desktop solution (quick and dirty): select Graphical application. - command line code to start from a script (Gambas code without GUI: select new project, "Command line application"; reported to work on Raspberry Pi. - cvs dumps / log file processing (Regular expressions option) - database enabled (I use it mostly with MySQL) so you might go readonly to a database instead of making the tour via dumps; I use it a lot to generate management information straight from the database used by software used in the company. - I never used it for software development for software "products", but I wouldn't know why it wouldn't work. It is very nice for quick problem solving; from the IDE with syntax highlighting, you can choose to make a source code package as .tar.gz (what I use mostly together with a client-side shell script to download and unpack). You don't want to learn a new language but know the general concepts: gambas syntax is based on "visual basic like", but it started from principles close to java (object-orientation - but you can also just write traditional code). Easy application "local settings" storage, internationalisation (I mostly write the code in English and use the internationalisation to make the needed local strings for on screen use), Subversion repository, QT/GTK specific interface, SDL, etc. The Gambas IDE is programmed in Gambas itself, and a lot of examples are included in the IDE. No "check" for platform-independant; no windows version available, use on Mac I'm not sure, but I read you do most things now in Unix shell scripting, so might be Linux. Gambas is now at version 3, I use it since end of version 1/start of version 2. It is included in the most Linux distributions (in repositories you might have to switch on). They have a very active mailing list.

We had a similar situation years ago, and started with a web-based open source CRM (that runs on internal servers, not online). It was to early to find an existing one at that time, so we let someone program it for us, and we use it for basic stuff that hardly changes. It is made with php, and the data is in a MySQL database. Small changes we can do ourselves. Now I would use e.g. Dolibarr. But the nice thing to leave Visual Basic behind but keep some flexibility: Gambas. It is a free programming environment to make as well command-line programs as real GUI programs. We make a lot of custom programs that use the mysql-data of our CRM to do calculations, make management dashboards, special output, prints/lists etc. And even correction programs for data corrections in the database: by making small programs for it, they first can be tested on a developers copy of the dataset. Now even users can start corrections without too much risk. Manual corrections in the database .. horror ... Oh yes, did I mention we switched to Linux on the desktop at the time we made the web-based CRM? We have some macs around as well.

There is a gambas application on sourceforge: Employear, to keep holidays but also normal working days, etc. It is a Linux desktop application written in Gambas, a Java-like language with a Visual Basic like development environment. It stores data in MySQL database. It makes sense to take an open source app; we adjusted some small thing so that we can read data from a timetracker system to auto-fill the normal, worked days.. We use for some years now; the monthly totals are delivered to HRM for payroll caculations.

I still use html very often. It is easy to make, easy to edit even without GUI (make a last minute change). You will be sure it "runs everywhere" and not only on your laptop (from which you forgot the specific power adaptor that day). It is easy to make a copy of your prestentation on CD and hand it over to participants or have it as backup. It is the same format you put it on the web. It might lack some nice gliding, flowing etc from one page to another, but you can extend it with all possible media; flash, sound, ..