@bugnaw333, AppImages can be really handy, but it's up to the person who builds each module to include what they think is needed. Most people pack AppImages using big distros like Ubuntu or Fedora, so when we try to use them in minimalist distros they simply don't work. What I don't understand is the fact that no other OS behaves like this: an application for Android doesn't ask you to install any dependency; an application for Windows most of the time doesn't require additional packages; the same for MacOS and iOS. All this dependency craziness on Linux forces each main distro to build (and to keep building!) everything, and in such way that most of the time things are not compatible with other distros. It's a freaking nightmare and such a waste of time and energy 
@peebee, Puppy defaults to root user, that's why it doesn't ask for root password.
Regarding the ISO size, I think you're right: the firmware support in PorteuX provides a broader hardware support. Puppy's firmware module (LxPupSc64-23.01+2-T.iso) takes 19 MB while PorteuX's one takes 99 MB. Also, all PorteuX's modules use zstd compression, which is less optimized for size but it's much faster to decompress. A quick comparison:
puppy ISO (default): 346.2 MB
puppy ISO (zstd): 397.7 MB
On top of that, Puppy provides heaps of new packages, but also some old ones. For instance:
transmission 2.6 (2012)
gnome-mplayer 1.1.3 (2011)
evince 2.32 (2010)
geany 1.35 (2019)
light browser 48 (2016) -- so old that many sites don't work properly, including github
And it doesn't provide things like:
network manager applet
pulse audio mixer
libjson-glib
av1 video support
Apart from boot/shutdown speed, Puppy's performance is impressive! And the fact it can be created out of other distros not just Slackware is amazing!
One little thing that happened to me while testing: default xorg.conf didn't work with my Nvidia card -- I had to manually delete it to be able to run LXDE.
Finally, regarding the decision of not include a browser, I think you were clear in your last post: lack of firmware can prevent the system from accessing the internet. Also, browser is a very personal thing, so I guess instead of trying to guess which one the user will use, it's better to provide a way for them to decide. 
and apps store is great! ...but still need to have a 100% support on Appimages without any additional requirements for it to work. 
