So I've been thinking of this ever since I first started using PortableApps... What if it were possible to code a working operating system into portable apps. I'm talking very simple. Literally making it so it can just boot and display the apps available and make it able to get new ones via portable firefox etc etc etc. I know you'd have to code for drivers, and using Linux would be a great way to do that in a minimalist way. Any thoughts on this? Anyone want to tag team to make a working model? Thanks.
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What exactly do you mean? Create a small operating system just to update portable apps? I don't see any advantage of that since you'd have to use Windows at some point to use the apps, so you might as well just update when you are using Windows.
Or do you mean a completely self-sufficient operating system able to run PortableApps applications just like Windows? In which case, I think you don't realize the enormity of what you're asking for. If there any doubts then check out ReactOS for a glimpse of just how pain-staking coding a "Windows-binary-compatible" operating system is. Pay close attention to how long the project has been running (over 10 years!) and the current "state" of the project (i.e. it's still in alpha).
Your intentions are honorable but unfortunately it's pie in the sky.
I did indeed mean the second thing you talked about, but I wasn't aware PortableApps is available for use only with Windows (never really tried on Ubuntu, just assumed it did). Darn, well thank you for your response.
You can run some (all, John?) PortableApps in Linux using Wine. This is probably the closest you could get to having a Portable Operating System that will run your PortableApps. Ubunutu probably wouldn't be the best choice for a portable Linux though, since it's pretty substantial but I believe there are USB installers for Ubuntu if you really wanted to go with it.
You could also use PE-builder (http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/) to create a "windows live CD".
I've heard rumors that you could create bootable flashdrives, too. But i've never tested this...
Here is a HowTo for that: http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-6160062.html
But there will be licensing issues:
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/#licensing
And isn't it a heavily stripped down version of Windows? So you could run into some dependency/compatibility issues. I didn't mention it simply because it doesn't seem terribly convenient. It seems like the primary use of PE build is for systems analysis and recovery, not day-to-day desktop use. Compare it with something like Puppy Linux, Slitaz, TinyCore Linux or some other LiveCD distribution and those can easily be turned into full desktop solutions. Plus, as you said, that's to say nothing of the legal implications.
Anyway, worth mentioning I suppose.
I would hardly classify telling someone they have to use a legal copy of a OS as an "issue". That's kinda like telling someone that to drive a car there's an issue in that they need a license. A valid point, a consideration, a requirement even, but hardly an "issue".
PEBuilder is an means to create a Pre-install Environment for Windows rather than a full normal version of Windows but it is very customizable, there's even a plugin for an older version of Firefox that runs on it, and I suspect many of the PortableApps here would run on it, either natively or via plugins. It could prove to be an interesting project.
The Windows 7 version might be an interesting project also.
http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=23931
It too has the "issue" of requiring a valid license for the OS.
Ed