What should be done with the Portable key at "Probably the Best Free Security List in the World?"

What should be done with the Portable key at https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/probably-best-free-security-list-world.htm ? The official poll is at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9YY35ZL. In case you're wondering, the Portable key is actually called "Program that works without installation" now.

Please vote in the unofficial poll here at Wilders too. I want to see if the unofficial poll results are similar to the official poll results.

Note: I'm a co-editor of the list since March.

 

IMO if application is really portable would be the most useful information.

 

Thanks for your input .

In that case, for example a program such as AccessChk (as well as the other Sysinternals utilities) would not get the Portable key, since it writes to the registry when the user accepts its EULA.

 

I voted for the second option. It must be truly portable!

Edit: missing word

 

The portable keyword? Well, if a software is called portable then it should be really portable. Half-faced portable doesn't count. A portable software shouldn't hurt my registry.

 

For clarity, the poll isn't about the name of the Portable key; it's about the attributes it should convey. The name of the key will reflect the attributes it conveys.

 

My post was relevant, right?

 

Yes . I just wanted to make sure that people are voting based on the attributes that the key should convey, not the key name. I didn't convey that as well as I should have in the poll.

 

Yes that's tricky. But IMO this software is not truly portable (it writes to registry). "Works without installation" is too vague. Some software can be installed using an installer or extracting content from zip archive. Both ways achieve the same. So is it considered portable or not? Or does it depend on the way you install it?

 

I voted for the second option.

 

I want Portable key that is only applied to truly portable software.

 

That's a good point. If used, I think that "Works without installation" would refer to whether a program works without installation "out of the box," not whether it can be transformed somehow to work without installation.

 

Yes I agree with you. Though some software have multiple install options (like KC softwares: http://www.kcsoftwares.com/?download). You can download both options and program works with no transformation on user side. By your distinction software would be portable if ZIP is downloaded and not portable if EXE is downloaded.

 

it should be truly portable or "stealth". which also means no reliance on stuff like the .NET framework or anything that the average computer might not have installed.

the experts on the subject seem to reside at Portable Freeware dot com

 

The official poll has been closed.

Results:

1. I don't care about Portable flag.
9.09%
2

2. I want Portable flag that is only applied to truly portable software.
63.64%
14

3. I want Portable flag that means "Works without installation. May or may not be truly portable."
18.18%
4

4. I want Portable flag that means "Developer has declared program to be portable."
13.64%
3

5. I want Portable flag that means ____ (tell us).
9.09%
2

Total Respondents: 22

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Some notes:
1. Few people voted. I don't know whether that's because most users didn't see the poll (it was announced in a comment on the site), or did see the poll but didn't care to participate.
2. Of those who voted, only 11% didn't care about the key. There could be bias in the poll though because people who care about the key might have been more motivated to vote.

Here's the problem: checking for true portability would/did take too much time. For those of you who voted for "I want Portable flag that is only applied to truly portable software," what would have been your next best poll choice?

 

For me the third option (Works without installation) would be next best choice.

 

But what if those people want to use portable software for privacy and/or stability reasons?

 

Nobody working on the list now wants to spend the time testing each potentially portable program for true portability. If someone is interested in doing that, let me know.

 

The 'What is "portable"?' section at http://www.portablefreeware.com/about.php shows that portability needn't be seen as a "it either is portable or it isn't" issue.

 

The list authors have decided that the Portable key will be removed because it causes too much work for the list authors. If you have a proposal for keeping it anyway, feel free to say so.

 

Well, portable is essential for removal of persistent malware, which tend to block installation of anti-malware software.
I always recommend portable to clean the PC like CureIt, Emsisoft and Kaspersky, never MBAM, because it is not portable.

 

Or the editors can just put them into a "Portable Anti-Malware" category/subcategory, regardless if they are truly portable or not.

 

That's a possibility. The current (old) list already has that.