i should be working (but i'm fixing my computer).

Having discovered portable apps, the question for me now is whether I can get my "usual" system onto the USB drive.

...

That doesn't mean the whole linux system -- of course I can build a live CD, but I'm thinking about something I can put into any public computer on a flash drive and run "my system."

Because, on the one hand, finding solutions that run through a web browser offers a certain level of simplicity. But, if I can bundle my usual apps onto a flash drive, why worry about making everything work from the web browser?

As I've documented elsewhere, I run a system that retrieves my files from my web server via sshfs, decrypts them via gpg and launches them in OpenOffice, kpdf, or whatever app best suits the file. There are a number of benefits, one of which is that the storage is "below" the web level, removing some security risks.

Since Windows is the most likely platform I will run across in the wild, I need the Windows equivalent of sshfs. And I need it to run in portable mode. There are a few options to experiment with: Sftpdrive, Web Drive, and for the free world, dokkan library and a solution using mindTerm and NetDrive.

So, my research is now going in two somewhat dissimilar but parallel directions: On one track is the embedding of gpg encrypted files into a MySQL database via a web browser form; the other direction is simply latching onto my website as folders or directory on the local computer.

The one thing I haven't found is a solution that doesn't require me to bring along any software. But, a flash drive based solution would be handy.

And also one that runs on a smartphone. But since I need a smartphone with no camera, I'm stuck with an obsolete Blackberry ...

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PS -- I tried and failed with FireGPG. Apparently it conflicts with FireFTP, which the FireGPG developers claim uses and old library. I use FireFTP as my main FTP tool, so I've slammed into another dilemma.