MySQL 4.1 and the new
DBD::mysql under development allow for an embedded RDBMS, similar to SQLite. That would be the choice I would use for new development.
Otherwise, I would use MySQL which has several excellent GUI front-ends. However, why do you need a GUI front-end? Why aren't you providing all access to the DB through the app?
Being right, does not endow the right to be rude; politeness costs nothing.
Being unknowing, is not the same as being stupid.
Expressing a contrary opinion, whether to the individual or the group, is more often a sign of deeper thought than of cantankerous belligerence.
Do not mistake your goals as the only goals; your opinion as the only opinion; your confidence as correctness. Saying you know better is not the same as explaining you know better.