For some time now, Windows and Mac users have been able to take advantage of Portable Apps, i.e. portable programs that can be used without making installations and which, therefore, if copied to a USB stick, can be carried around and used on any computer, without dirty it with installation. Due to file dependencies in Linux, there has always been a greater technical difficulty in creating portable applications.
Fortunately, anyone who uses Linux can download several portable programs, which work on any distribution, from the Portable Linux Apps site .
These programs can then be copied to an external hard disk or to a USB stick and can be used on any computer running Ubuntu, Fedora, Suse and any other Linux distro .
Like portable Windows applications, Linux portable software works without dirtying the system and leaving no traces.
By accessing the Portable Apps Linux site you can download some of the most famous Linux programs in a portable version such as, for example:
DOSBox, a DOS emulator for old games;
Handbrake, the best way to convert videos;
Transmission, the BitTorrent client;
Pidgin, the universal chat program;
X-Chat, the Mirc client;
VLC, the media player
Just remember that once you download the application, you need to change its authorization to allow the file to run as a program.
You must therefore right click on the file, go to 'Properties'> 'Permissions'.
General comment:
I already know that Linux fans are not happy with these new features that introduce Windows functions into the open source system.
Installation package management is perhaps the biggest feature of Linux, and finding and installing programs is easier on Linux than on Windows.
However, less experienced users and those who use Linux only in some circumstances can be confused when they find .tar or .gz files not knowing how to use them.
The situation can be frightening because there are many Linux distributions, each with its own installation and package management system.
With portable applications, it certainly becomes easier.
