Hi.
This is my first post here and I have looked around just briefly so this might already have been discussed.
I'm looking in to making a portable apps suit where I have the apps in a place that can be read only and the data separately in it's own path.
Why?
Then I can run from the same place (eg network drive or DropBox) on multiple computers without using the same data.
And I only have to manage the apps in one place.
I have been running portable apps for years now and have been feeling that TRUE liberation from my physical computers cant come until the data are separated from the apps.
Just think of this scenario:
I fix all apps needed for me and my family and friends on DropBox (when they add read only sharing...).
I or my family/friends install DropBox on all computers.
5 min to update an apps to newer version for 1 to million+ people (ok, I will never have that many friends but in theory...).
Never have to spend longer than 1 min after installing a new OS (with some drivers) on any computer to get it fully ready. (or using a scripted install DVD)
Or burn it on a DVD and use a ramdisk/DropBox for a truly stealth usage of apps on a computer you don't own, with a disposable low cost DVDR, that is fast as only data is transferred, not the apps.
Also think how easy/small/fast backup will be...
Ok, enough rambling about why.
But what I want to know if it is possible to use the portableapps installer to archive this? Or do anyone know another way to do it?
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There are some issues with the approach. Many apps like Firefox, Sunbird and Thunderbird can't run from read-only media. I'm not talking about their data. I'm talking about the apps themselves. Others have to have their app and their settings in the same directory, so they can't be read-only either.
Storing data in the cloud is problematic, too. Firefox's profile is routinely 50MB or more. Thunderbird's can be far greater. And uploading to the cloud is very slow (even in the US, typical upload speed is about 384K for high-speed connections, even when we have 20M download).
We're going to be releasing a live version of the PortableApps.com suite in the near future. But it's designed to test apps (not save data).
If you do your own packaged suite and redistribute it online, be sure to remember that you can't include firefox, thunderbird, sunbird, etc due to licensing.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I thought it was allowed to redistribute Firefox/Thunderbird/... "as is", meaning without any modifications from original package ?
you can as long as it's the original installer, but the main issues are lay on trademark issues, we use those names as we have permission from Mozilla to use it.
your friendly neighbourhood moderator Zach Thibeau
OK, thank you for your explanations
You can redistribute the original, unaltered, binary installer as given to you by Mozilla. You can't repackage it and keep the Mozilla Firefox branding in place without permission.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Thank you for the precision, it's clear as water
Just urlclassifier3.sqlite in my firefox profile is 30MB...
Darn bloatware. Yeah I do know (now...) what it do and don't want to live without it.
But with Xmarks and LastPass addon I could as well just wipe the changes every time on FireFox without much loss (rather think I would gain some security from that).
And all my friends and family use Gmail or Hotmail, as do I.
And there is a few ugly or problematic but doable way to solve distribution.
#1 Use a "patcher" to patch a distrubution file after it has been downloaded.
#2 Use a program like the Universal Extractor and portableapps installer with a predefined scripted and config after it has been downloaded.
#3 Convince the software makers to release it in a "correct" package.
Where I think #2 is most likely to work.
And yes I do know some software must be run in a non-readonly place. But that might be archived with a ram disk.
Must try to make my whole portable apps collection read only and see what fail and what don't.
I have amassed 150+ portable apps (all open source or freeware) atm, with a total of 875MB incl data, where at least 100MB is data. But then I have collected them over a few years now (updating as time has passed, naturally).
And after a clean Windows 7 installation I only install drivers and Input Director (havent checked if it is possible to run as portable, but I am quite sure it wont).
If a software aint portable it must be darn good for me to consider now days.
I do have a gaming rig thou, where I have to (re)install my games. I wish I could make my games (CoD4/5, TF2, mmorpgs) portable too, but I can (or have to) live with it.
Oh and if the data is slow to upload isn't the end of the world, most have fiber with 10/10Mbit or better and the rest have ADSL with 756Kb or 1Mbit upload (but they wont change computer often, if all, so it is most for backup). Yeah, sweden rocks in the Internet area.
ps. I pay $20/month for 100/100Mbit, unlimited data per month...
Oh and thanks for the feedback btw.