Is it possible to share applications on OS X Server?

So how do I do it?

Well ..

Sorry.  What is your application?  The reason I ask, the software needs server enabled for it to work the best.  Did you notice the list of servers for each specific application.  

It is possible to install an application on any machine and run it remotely, if you don't run into local settings that need to be setup for each user.  

Also, there are licensing considerations.  Is the software licensed so it can be run by any user?

Get back with your response and we'll go from there.

I am talking simple apps like Transmission for torrents, Cyberduck for FTP, server admin for server admin, Chicken of the VNC for VNC stuff.  I know I can just throw the app on a network drive and launch it remotely but is there a way for the user settings to automatically throw it in the dock so it is usable or search a network folder for an application in case it comes across a file it cannot open because the app is not installed locally?

I believe that would be dictated by the application.  If the application is designed to be able to run off the server, with local settings, then it would work fine.  Maybe what we need to try is running some application that doesn't have any settings off a remote device.
I'll check into that.

But there is no official App server built in os x?

What would I ask. I think this is more of a Os X Server questions.  Can the server serve apps out?

I will try this.  What originally sparked this question was that I saw there are options for sharing Apple Share folders under automount and I can select it for the home directory or for shared apps so I assumed there was some whole hidden section of Os X server where i could share apps.
ian

Yes ..

Since I last reported to you, I've noticed two types of installation methods for Macs.  The dmg's are a simple, all inclusive directory structure that can be installed anywhere.  You would control rights to the folder on your server and hence, the program becomes shared.

The other is the one that actually goes through and installation process the first time it is run.  One of these I installed, asked if I'd like to change the location of the program folder.  At that point it can be changed to reside on a server.  And managed with sharing rights.

Now, if there is a single database that is used by the application, the developers of the app would have to install a separate local version of the database or allow the sharing of a single database.

It will be interesting to see what issues, if any, that you run into installing a couple of test applications.  Let me know when you have time to work on it.

No one seems to have a straight-forward answer here as no one seems to have tried it.  Can I get an answer from someone who has or does such a person not exist?

Why do you want to do this rather than running the apps locally from the workstations?

Today's workstations are so powerful, it is almost a technology that is antiquated.

I like trying new things and I also like running things from a central source and pushing my network to its peak.

Still nothing here to answer my question fully.  What shoudl I do?

ALright.  I will work on it this weekend

I'll mark this as solved as some apps work.  Others are too big to open that quickly.