Feedback needed on PA usage, rush over

I've been using the portable apps since I first came across them in a web article a while back. The idea of open source and portable programs is important to me as it shows how driven people are to provide excellent software alternatives that do 99% of the other pay-for-play software out on the current market, the community of software design is not an elitist one despite it being a small community.

I am mobile person, and working for my University, I go from computer to computer all over campus, and it helps that I have program settings and tweaks that I am familiar with and have associated with the files I use on my usb key.

It has also helped me when using different types of media w/ the non-profit organizations in that I've used my portable apps to run/edit videos or artwork on the fly when last-minute revisions occurred and no one had the right software on their laptop. Many of the applications available on portableapps.com are very comprehensive in the file formats they can work with.

Good luck with your implementation.

Jameson Stalanthas Yu
Office Technology Coordinator
University of Southern California.

Well, one possibility is for them to decrease costs by making their Windows PCs in labs into some more akin to dumb terminals. You could let the students pick up cheap USB flash drives (or provide them to students with the costs they save in IT maintenance). All students could have the software they need on their drives: email, web browser, office suite, IM, dev tools, calendar, etc... all open source and all free.

If students have a network drive with space on it with a consistent drive letter, they can even configure their sticks to easily backup their documents and app data to those drives with just a couple clicks as needed. That way, if a stick dies or is lost, they can just reload the apps they need and then restore their data easily.

And the PCs themselves can be reloaded as needed with a base install of Windows. I know when I was at college, all school PCs did this nightly. It would be an easier process since most PCs would just have Windows on them. And all the software we publish works even on guest accounts on Windows 2000, XP and Vista (with the exception of GnuCash's online banking features), so they can have the PCs locked up pretty tight and still let students use them... all without having to install any extra custom software on them. They'd want to ensure they have solid policies, fully patched OSes and up to date anti-virus/spyware/malware as usual of course.

And for students, it makes it easy to move from home, to friend's laptop to computer lab with all their data, documents and apps.

They can even contact me about doing a package of the menu with your school logo on it, too :-)

I'll bite :)

Really, using a PortableApps allows you freedom. Freedom to use just about any pc you come across. Freedom to not be tied down to anyone pc. Freedom to know that when you walkover to a PC, you have everything you need to get the job done. I'll state this: my pc was down over the summer and again is down. While I have alot of stuff I'd like to get to, I'm alright, because everything important is on my flash drive(s).

I use PortableApps for:

• Doing homework :OpenOffice Write Portable has helped me numerous times
• Programing: About 90% of my coding is done on a college computer (don't worry, they're secure)
• Relaxation: Otherwise known as games, to allow myself that little period I need to I can come back with vigor
• Flexibility: Quite often, I come across a situation where I need some software not already installed. By having the portable version on my flash drive, I save time from downloading, installing, and configuring
• Contact: I have Miranda Portable on my flash drives and it allows me to keep in contact with my buddies. I can have a conversation going that's nice and quite, except for me typing. In fact, I'll be talking to my brother, who is also in the lab, via our portable messengers

And just because the software is open source doesn't mean its bad. In fact, all the software is stable. And the support is great. Just drop a note and pretty soon, you'll have an answer.