Hey all,
I just wanted to post a quick status update so everybody knows what's happening. As most folks have noticed, there was a month or so hiatus between releases. While that was going on, the installer and platform were basically finalized. You can see pieces of this in the new graphics attached to the current Firefox and Toucan Pre-Release (help files and splash screens) as well as the new installer used for Toucan that's multilingual (if you can help localize the installer, please do).
Well, now that that's done, I'm cranking up the releases to all come out along with the next pre-release of the platform that will tie it all together. The apps and platform now work together a bit closer and this will only improve with successive releases.
Firefox and Toucan are only the first. A pre-release of Pidgin will be posted tomorrow to try out the new multilingual installer as well as moving to the 'official' method of having Pidgin be portable (with additional portability enhancements as always).
Anyway, just wanted to give a quick update to all who've been wondering.
Best,
John
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I think there are a lot people who've been wondering...
"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate
... for the update.
I'll update the OOo Portable Development Packages on the base of Your new Multilingual installer.
... or have You other plans for OOo Portable?
Regards
Marko
Paid for Software more or less?
What You need is OSS!
Can't wait to see the new PAM, John, as well as the new app releases. Thanks for all your hard work.
"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning." - Rick Cook
So how exactly will they "work together a bit closer"? However it does I know it will be really nice.
Thanks for all your hard work,
Bensawsome
iLike Macs, iPwn, However you put it... Apple is better ^_^
"Claiming that your operating system is the best in the world because more people use it is like saying McDonalds makes the best food in the world..."
Will clarification for developers be coming at all. Such as release names? As far as I know right now it'll be Development Test Release, Pre-Release, and Official Release. And is there any other notable changes with the PAF? As well a any idea on a seperate project page on SF for test releases? And of course the Dev Test Release splash.
Sorry for so many questions, just wanted to get them confirmed before I start releasing some more updates and new applications into beta.
Thanks.
It is all done? Really? The PA.com Platform is done? And all other stuff? Yeah!!! I will visit this site from minute to minute, every second I can!!!
Blue is everything.
If it is done (or almost), then you already have some idea about certain specifications. Can you post some of those? I'll become a "themer"... maybe
.
I'm waiting...
Blue is everything.
This is great. I'm looking forward to more information/tools for developers.
cowsay Moo
cowthink 'Dude, why are you staring at me.'
Thanks for the update, John,
I can't wait!
Please Make TiLP Portable
Would it be at all possible to release WinMerge at the same time next week?
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
I love the app!!!
"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate
luv it!
Cancer Survivors -- Remember the fight, celebrate the victory!
Help control the rugrat population -- have yourself spayed or neutered!
how lame of me not having come across this before... can't hardly wait! keep on the good work!
ion][reflex
[reflexion]
thank you for the update and i hope that portable the best software must be are for usb sticks
John, is it possible to isolate the Portable apps environment to avoid damage from virus infections in the host computer? As most of the public terminals here are badly infected, I have to clean and reinstall the apps often after visiting a public terminal. Actually I am using the public terminals only for sending pre-prepared mails while i travel. But it's really frustrating to repeat the repairing process always..In Mojopack they guarantee absolute safety against the infections in the host computer (I am not used to it) . Is it possible to implement the same environment with the Portable apps platform?
I am in love with technology, but I am a master of none !!
What they actually say is that infection won't spread between the virtualized environment and the host PC. You could do the same by carrying, say, QEMU with Windows XP on it between computers. But the Mojopac EXEs themselves can, of course, become infected (as any EXE can) and spread a virus between computers. And, since you'll be logged in as an administrator (Mojopac doesn't work with Guest or Limited accounts.. what you'll usually encounter in schools, offices, hotels, net cafes, etc) that virus will then have free rain over every system you come across.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Ok, John. Does that mean there is no possible way on the cards now to make a secure environment to run the Portable Apps in an infected host computer?
I am in love with technology, but I am a master of none !!
It's called a CD. Many of the apps support running from a CD.
cowsay Moo
cowthink 'Dude, why are you staring at me.'
You can run the Apps off of a CD, yes, but you would still need a separate flash drive for your documents.
Or, you could get a flash drive with a hard-lock (an external read-only switch) and a separate writable one for the docs - plug them both into a portable USB hub. You'd still have to scan the 2nd drive for viruses. Sorry, gayathri, but viruses are a part of the world, we all need to deal with them.
You would not be able to change app settings - I don't think you could have the apps on the read-only drive and the settings on the writable drive, or could you?
I made this half-pony, half-monkey monster to please you.
But sir, since my ultimate goal is the complete security of the USB drive from an infected host computer , though ur post is highly technical ( it made me almost unconscious !! )which gives a perfect solution to the first half of my requirement, let us proceed this discussion to further depths if you ( and all those who are interested ) are kind enough to spare some more time on this topic...
Please read:
" For the USB-paranoid, SP2 includes an ability to let users read data from a USB drive, but not write data to that drive. It's a simple Registry change. First, create a whole new key: HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control \ StorageDevicePolicies. Then create a REG_DWORD entry in it called WriteProtect. Set it to 1 and you'll be able to read from USB drives but not write to them."
This is one of my my 'google search' results and since I am not a software man, i could not sort it out to reach a final solution for my requirement.
Is it possible to create a new portable software which could save our USB from an infected host computer using this concept/procedure?
I am in love with technology, but I am a master of none !!
First off, it there is bad software already running on the machine, any change to the registry that you make could be unmade or changed by the bad software. So if you changed the registry entry, the bad software could change it back again.
There are adapters that go between the machine and the USB that prevent the machine from writing to the USB, electronically; also USB drives with a "write-protect" switch. That is likely to be more trustworthy. The thing is, you'd still not be able to write anything to the USB drive, not data or changed settings or anything. It would be like running from a CD. Plus if you have any sensitive data, the bad software running on the machine could still find it and make copies.
The other thing is that HKLM is an administrative area; if the machine is running with any sort of security, it is only writable by an administrator. That means you as a guest wouldn't be able to make those changes (or, perhaps, software you ran would not be able to make the change). If you can make changes, then the bad software could too.
It's one of those bad situations. If bad software has taken over the computer, you just can't trust it period (full stop). It could be infecting your USB drive, recording anything you type (like passwords) to send off somewhere, erasing data, infecting executables, any number of things.
Even if there were a software package (like Ceedo or Mojopac) that could isolate your USB from the computer, it would still have to run. If it is on writable media, something could infect it when it is loaded or just before it starts to run. This could quite likely render it unable to protect you. If it is on read-only media, that would be better, but then you would not be able to save changes or settings.
If you are allowed, you could boot from a "LiveCD" (like http://www.puppylinux.com/cd-puppy.htm). That would put you (or your software) back in control of the software part of the machine (leaving you to worry about things like hardware keyloggers). If it is your software that is controling the machine, you could trust it with a writable USB drive on which you could record data.
MC
Got it...Still one more try....Is it possible to run a real time virus protection inside the USB environment?
I am in love with technology, but I am a master of none !!
It seems that RT virus scanning is not as easy as you might think.
The main commercial progs, like McAfee, use lots of services for their RT scanning, and registry entries.
The free or open-source ones tend to be on-demand scanners, not RT.
ClamWin claims to have been working on a real-time scanning solution since 2005, but that's no guarantee that this will work in PORTABLE ClamWin.
Some have suggested WinPooch, which is a firewall-type app that can work with ClamWin, and may be able to work on USBs (search this forum).
There is another prog called MoonSecure, but I don't think it's close to portable.
Also, Avast! may be able to run on USB, I haven't tried it.
I did find a practical but time-consuming suggestion:
Flip the write-protect switch on the USB drive, and scan the whole computer with ClamWin. Once it is clean, you can flip the switch back and work in relative security. I'd scan the USB drive just before leaving, too.
One other suggestion:
You said that most of public terminals "here" are infected... I assume that you mean in your country, or in a particular area that you frequent.
Unless you are in a different place every day, you are most likely visiting the same terminals over and over. Perhaps you could suggest to the owners that an anti-virus software would be in their best interests; there are a number of reasonably-priced options, including Avast! Professional edition. You never know, they may go for it.
I made this half-pony, half-monkey monster to please you.
The kinds of AV that work best watch for new files being written, scan them, and erase or move them if they are bad. They also watch for programs that are about to be run, and if they suspect something bad, intercept the commands and/or ask what you want to do.
Those functions, to be effective, need to be tightly integrated into the OS, meaning admin privileges.
The AV software works best when it has admin privileges (usually System) and the programs it guards against don't. If there is malware running at the same or higher privilege level, then you end up with a clash, or perhaps the malware seeing the threat and killing or disabling the AV software. (I've seen it happen.)
It may be possible to run real-time AV software from the USB drive, and it may actually be somewhat effective, but I doubt you could rely on it 100% if there is a chance that malware got there first.
What level of risk are you willing to accept? Nothing in life is risk-free. Running real-time AV from a non-Admin account may mitigate some of the risk, or even a lot of it, but probably not all of it. I guess my point is not so much to make people afraid to use any public machine, as to raise a healthy paranoia, so they can assess the risks and decide if they are acceptable ... as opposed to ignoring or underestimating the risks.
MC
It may be a time consuming process to scan the public terminal before using it and hence not viable since we are not supposed to spend so much time in cafe while we are on the move. I am trying to find out a more easy solution to secure the USB by preventing the host computer from writing on the Drive.
But unfortunately I am not a programmer or an expert in the field...
The risk I am forced to undertake each time I connect my drive to a public terminal is a complete format and reinstall. Since I always keep an up-to-date backup of my portable apps in my System, I will survive the situation but it's not the right way, I am sure.....
I am in love with technology, but I am a master of none !!