why does base not periodically back up open databases like other LibreOffice apps periodically back up their open documents?
The underlying question is “why do I keep losing my data in base”. I used base for quite a long time with the embedded database, the way it comes out of the box. Back then it was “crashy”. and every time it crashed my data was gone, along with the formatting. Once I learned to use a split database (there is a script available to set one up, and there may be something else more modern) I stopped losing data from crashes and base became a useful tool which can run parts of my business.
Because it saves data into DB file at once data is changed.