I've been using PortableApps for at least 6 months now. I keep three USB Sticks:
1 - Apps that download/process personal data (Firefox, Thunderbird, Pidgin etc)
2 - General Apps I (might) use on a regular basis
3 - Misc Apps I don't use regularly, but might come in handy.
I sync these between machines, so I use the apps from local drives rather than the sticks themselves.
I like this set up, but I do feel that the Launcher system could be improved considerably. I know there is work to improve/extend it in progress. I also know that there is a goal to launch a new app each day (i think).
It does seem like both of these items are creeping, whilst it's good to get portable games, they shouldn't be contributing so much to the app a day goal.
I did a search yesterday on "Portable Apps" and found [illegal site], downloaded it and went through their quite comprehensive catalogue and downloaded/installed about 30 or so apps. I'm not about to jump ship, but I will keep [illegal site] as my fourth memory stick for now.
I don't know how old [illegal site] is or how much development resources (people) etc it has, but it is very well developed from first glance. If I were to make one recommendation to the lead developers/decision makers of PortableApps, it would be (if they've not seen [illegal site]) to download it, along with a few apps and look at the functionality.
I'm in no way suggesting that PA copy [illegal site], but they should use it to get some inspiration and breathe some life into PA.
I would appreciate any feedback from users/developers of PA alike, as conversation and debate can only stimulate and produce ideas and goals...
Come talk...
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The site you mentioned is a known illegal software site run by one individual. He's been caught taking our software, code and applications on dozens of occasions in the past and attempting to pass it off as his own, in violation of the GPL and copyright law. He's currently bundling multiple freeware applications and trademarked open source applications without publisher permission or knowledge, in violation of copyright law, trademark law and the associated open source licenses. From a technical standpoint, the entire system is closed (closed source platform and application launchers) with the software artificially tied to the platform to lock you in. And it has numerous portablization issues, mostly due to imperfectly copying our code and techniques.
We don't permit discussion of illegal software here at PortableApps.com and only work with legitimate software with publisher and trademark-holder permission. We respect copyright law, trademark law and open source licenses fully. So, software and features can take a little longer to implement and release, but it is legal to use, legal to distribute and will continue to work for years to come.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I'm a little shocked to hear that. Although I'm confused as to how a single person could create a launcher system that appears to be substantially more advanced to that of PA.
My comments in regards to functionality still stand. However this individual has created his launcher system, it is functional and useful and you would do well to make observations from it (before consigning it to the recycle bin).
Most things that are created in life are a as a result of observations and I would consider it to be cutting your nose of to spite your face for you to not do the same.
I wish I could help in some way, but I have no skills in app dev, can only do some php/mysql.
I look forward to an improvement in the quality of apps being released and the next launcher release.
aSO
It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise given that an unknown site was able to put together so many apps. He simply packages them without permission and without public testing of functionality and portability. As for the platform, as it is closed source, and the author has shown no issue with violating software licenses, it could draw from code from a number of different sources without worry of attribution or running afoul of the publishers (since the source code isn't published, they are unlikely to discover it). There are several sites that have made illegal use of our software and code and the software and code of the other couple legitimate portable software sites.
Fear not, though... from a functionality perspective, you'll be seeing the features offered on the illegal site and many more offered within our platform soon, though ours will be legitimately packaged and open source, so you can be sure it will remain free and won't lock you in.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I'm glad to hear that, I look forward to see the next installment in the chapter...
All the real useful stuff is here anyway.
Notice that [illegal site] have no forum, no bug reporting and so on.
It is use at your own risk but basically isn't worth using on the most part and is a poor reflection of the real thing, ie pa.c
He's referencing a different illegal site that attempts to be appear legit but repackages freeware without permission and has stolen our software before, not the other illegal site that directly rips off our trademark and uses it to repackage warez (though, coincidentally, they're both copyright and trademark violations). As no real good conversation can arise out of this thread further, I'm going to lock it.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!