iPod Tip #31
Portable applications save their data on the drive they reside in, not in the host computer they are running on. They do not need to be installed on the computer in the Applications folder to work correctly. These applications can be put on your iPod or a USB memory stick and run on any Mac you connect it to. This can be very convenient.

Definition of “portable” usually means:
Application must be able to run from any directory you install it in.
Settings should be stored in the same folder as the application.
Application must not rely on any particular platform runtimes.

For example, you can run “portable” version of Firefox from your iPod. Keeping all of Firefox’s preferences, bookmarks, history, themes and extensions on the iPod and not ion the Mac. This allows you to run Firefox on any Mac without leaving any of this info on the actual computer. This can be a nice option for you to bring certain applications, setup “your” way with you to use on other Macs and leave nothing behind in the way of data from these “portable apps.” There is a “portable” Adium, portable Inkscape, portable GIMP, portable Nvu, and portable Newspeak.

FreeSoftware Mac User Group (FreeSMUG) has a nice small list of open source portable applications like browser, email, ftp, chat, etc.

Also see:
The Portable Freeware Collection
List of portable applications From Wikipedia

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