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PortableApps.com Status Update (2011-03-11): 100 New Portable Apps in the last 100 Days plus platform and site progress

John T. Haller's picture
Submitted by John T. Haller on March 11, 2011 - 7:22pm

It's time for another 'PortableApps.com Status Update' on what's new in the last week. We've got 100 Apps in 100 Days, app updates, an update on the platform progress, an update on site upgrade progress, and more. Read on for the details

100 New Apps in 100 Days

It started December 1st as the 'days of App-ness' and it just kept going. Yesterday, with the release of QuteCom Portable (a free softphone app with video support), it hit 100 apps in 100 days. I'd like to thank all our developers and app packagers for helping make it possible. Keep watching the New Apps Tracker for each new app. Here's a recap of the 100 apps released so far:

Development

Education

Games

Graphics & Pictures

Internet

Music & Video

Office

Security

Utilities

Pile of App Updates

We're still catching up from the larger-than-usual number of apps requiring updates. A few app packagers have been busy with outside commitments, so we've been having other people finish up their packages. We should be caught up in the next couple days. This includes LibreOffice Portable which was delayed due to some personal committments of our main packager inside The Document Foundation. We'll have that update out in the coming days as well.

Firefox 4 Release Candidate 1

The Mozilla Firefox 4.0 Release Candidate 1 packages were posted within a few hours of the release of the local version and are available for users. Please help shake out any issues before the final version is released in the coming weeks.

Drupal Upgrade Progress

Nothing new to report on this front other than we've been looking around at some Drupal consultants to help assist with the manual upgrade. I'm including last week's update for continuity...

Some more progress has been made on the Drupal upgrade scripts. We may wind up hiring a Drupal expert to assist with the process, though, due to the complexity. We should know more at some point this week. As a reminder, Drupal is the content management system on which the site runs and it is in need of an upgrade to the latest major version release. However, the upgrade process is crashing without any useful errors or any indication of the issue. So, we'll be performing a manual upgrade from version 6 to 7. This will allow us better localization and allow us to implement our site redesign and new app directory.

Financial Update

Nothing new on the financial front, so here's the old update...

We're still exploring some options for fund-raising in the run-up to 2.0. We like the idea of a PortableApps.com store where you can buy t-shirts, mousepads, mugs, etc. We're also looking into doing a branded drive just as a fundraiser. We don't want to do it long-term as we're not looking to compete with our upcoming hardware partnerships.

As mentioned before, bandwidth costs continue to grow and the need for additional hardware presents itself, the additional funds are definitely going to help. In terms of monthly unique visitors, we're closing in on the likes of BoingBoing, SlashDot and similar sites and the hosting costs are reflecting that. Currently, we're covering the additional overhead from personal funding sources.

We still plan to kick this off soon after the 1.9 release is posted and will be providing more details at the time. We may do something similar to wikipedia's call for donations, though likely without my face looking sad on every page of the site. :) We're always looking for ideas and suggestions as well, so feel free to drop us a note to our developer contact address or post a note in the forums.

1.9 / 2.0 Beta 6 Platform Progress

We decided against a quicker 1.9.0 release without categories and are finishing it up for the 1.9.0 release. We should have a handle on timing of the release over the next few days as we catch up on updates of outdated apps and a few other housekeeping issues. If we have any information before next week's status update, I'll post an update exclusively about that as well. As mentioned previously, the 1.9.0 release includes the PA.c Updater and OEM branding (final version) as 'stable' features as well as categories and app adding as 'beta' features. The beta features are switchable on and off. They're being called a beta as they will be debuting for the first time and will not have full localizations before release. With the 1.9.1 release, we'll hopefully have the localizations done and can transition them to 'stable' and add additional features.

That's it for this update. Keep an eye on this blog for the next update and have a great weekend everybody!

Comments

John T. Haller's picture

John T. Haller

March 11, 2011 - 7:33pm

Fixed it, thanks!

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

Strange, I count 101 apps listed, and then there's today's app, CrystalDiskMark Portable, which isn't on the list, so I guess we're already up to 102 apps in 102 days? or is there something up there that shouldn't be? (or something that doesn't count?)

Now for my two Questions:

  1. What is meant by "app adding" when you say "the 1.9.0 release includes ... categories and app adding as 'beta' features"?
    Edit: I may have answered my own question, is this the Updater function for downloading apps not yet installed?
  2. Will there be an option in the app button context menu to open the app's AppNamePortable folder or not?
    (And if not will there ever be?)

And since there seems to be some difficulty on the Drupal upgrade front, I've got one question for the community at large.

Are there any Drupal experts around that might have some input that could help with the PortableApps.com Drupal upgrade?
I'm sure it would be appreciated. Wink

~3D1T0R

John T. Haller's picture

John T. Haller

March 11, 2011 - 9:16pm

It should be 100 as if you check the new release tracker there were 4 pages of 25 apps each as of yesterday (not including today's CrystalDiskMark, of course).

1. Yes, you answered your own question. More details will be available soon.

2. Yes, there will be "Explore App Directory" under the right-click menu in either 1.9 or 1.9.1.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

FreeMat Portable was released on Oct 15, 2010 (before the "Days of App-ness" started) and thus shouldn't be on this list.
(see, I can count :p)

Also Thank you very much for the "Explore App Directory" option.
I personally will find it much more useful than Categories Smile (but that's just me.)

~3D1T0R

John T. Haller's picture

John T. Haller

March 11, 2011 - 9:38pm

Thanks, that was it.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

100 new apps in 100 days (and today even a few more) is an unbelievable success for your platform!
to be honest, i didn't believe your "30 days of appness" anouncement since it would almost double the amount of available apps. now there are more than 100 new apps released!
there's just one word to say: congratulations!

hope you get your drupal troubles fixed soon!

Tom

ps: still hoping that the piriform apps (CCleaner, Speccy, Recuva, Defraggler) are one of the 100+ new apps, since they are already available as "portable build" at the piriform homepage.

spg SCOTT's picture

spg SCOTT

March 17, 2011 - 5:19pm

...and I see 11 new apps today, and yesterday, is that a record for PA?

Looking forward to tomorrow Biggrin

“There is a computer disease that anybody who works with computers knows about. It's a very serious disease and it interferes completely with the work. The trouble with computers is that you 'play' with them!”Richard Feynman

spg SCOTT's picture

spg SCOTT

March 19, 2011 - 9:30am

Just if the last couple of days were anything to go by, loads more apps Biggrin

“There is a computer disease that anybody who works with computers knows about. It's a very serious disease and it interferes completely with the work. The trouble with computers is that you 'play' with them!”Richard Feynman

crookadile

March 19, 2011 - 12:32pm

For a moment there I thought we might be seeing the elusive new platform.

Ah well there's always next year.

crookadile

March 19, 2011 - 3:05pm

Actually I think there is more chance of that than seeing the new platform.:P

Sovereign

March 19, 2011 - 6:48pm

Whether you're right or wrong, one thing about it, don't hold your breath waiting on the new platform. I do think the platform is coming relatively soon, but every aspect of its release seems to be extremely slow. Hopefully the wait will be over soon.

John T. Haller's picture

John T. Haller

March 28, 2011 - 1:37am

Hit a bit of a wall code-wise with LibreOffice and the new installer methods. Nearly have it sorted, so I'll post that release and an update tomorrow!

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

John T. Haller's picture

John T. Haller

March 28, 2011 - 11:17pm

LibreOffice Portable is packaged and being delivered to The Document Foundation now so it's on track for release tomorrow (their first available time to post it). I'll post a status update tomorrow afternoon once it's up Smile

EDIT (Mar 29): Make that Wednesday. Wound up working another 8 hours on LibreOffice bugs to get it done, so it'll be out tomorrow and I'll post the associated status update then.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

John T. Haller's picture

John T. Haller

March 31, 2011 - 8:25am

Honestly, I was just exhausted after pulling a couple 3am nights fixing some LibreOffice issues to ensure a proper release. I've got a flight in a couple hours I have to get to but should have time to post the update from the hotel later today.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

Big fan of LibreOffice, and IMHO, well worth any delays on a status update post. Get some sleep and don't worry about the complainers.

I made this half-pony, half-monkey monster to please you.

ricardofilipemoreira

April 1, 2011 - 12:18am

I'm not complaining, just don't set a date if you don't know for sure you'll be ready by then. just say "soon" instead of "tomorrow". I'm in no hurry to get updates, especially when this project is time consuming for the developers and open-source, I know what that implies for the people who work on it just because they believe in sharing, and that their lives must come first. I just don't think it's good for anyone to keep setting deadlines and then delaying them. It's just best to say that it'll be out soon enough. Wink Keep up the good work John.

John T. Haller's picture

John T. Haller

March 31, 2011 - 11:16pm

I'm stuck in a hotel in Florida with broken internet, so I'm using my cell phone to limp along just to connect. In terms of time, I had time to do the update or today's app, so I went with today's app, making 121 new-app-each-day in a row. The update will be posted tomorrow provided I get net access at a relative's place. Nothing earth-shattering to note other than the LibreOffice release and an upcoming round of translations we'll be launching once I get back in the office on Monday. Until then...

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

Sovereign

April 1, 2011 - 11:59am

I'm sure John is busting his tail on all of this and it sure sounds like the financial aspect is far from ideal. Obviously, I don't understand why this is like dragging a horse to water and trying to get it to drink. There is a lot I don't know and I can only guess that a tiered bit-by-bit roll out of features might have been better rather than an agonizing wait for Platform 2.0 (or even 1.9.x) in one big update.

But I especially don't know what to think when the Platform update is supposedly around the corner for months. Then on top of it, we go 3 weeks without an update (so much for the weekly updates -- how long did it take for that to fizzle out?) and John says in references to the next update... "Nothing earth-shattering to note". That makes me feel a lot better. Not. But it is very fitting.

I guess I'm an idiot for waiting on the the Platform update. I should have remembered the old saying, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."