Quote:
Whether you need to authenticate to remove things from /Applications depends on the permissions of that folder. It does not depend on the application or on the OS version.

For as long as I can remember, /Applications has defaulted to owner=root, group=admin, with 775 permissions. Adding to or removing from /Applications can only be done by root or by an admin. Authenticating makes you temporarily root, much like sudo at the command line, except that you don't need to be logged in as admin at the time.

Some users run as admin all the time. Those users can freely move things in an out of /Applications without any of that "pesky security nonsense".

You've apparently missed a turn in the road somewhere.

I run exclusively from an admin account, and since I installed Snow Leopard I've had to authenticate to move Apple apps out of /Apps; the same does not hold true for (non-MAS) non-Apple apps.

Code:
/Apps > Sharing & Permissions:

You can read and write

system: Read & Write
admin: Read & Write
everyone: Read only

And, if it's pertinent, your commands come up clean on my deuced Mac(hina):
Code:
Last login: Tue Mar  8 04:05:37 on ttys000
Artie-s-Computer-4:~ artie$ # Identify items owned by other than root or this admin
Artie-s-Computer-4:~ artie$ anadmin=$(id -u)
Artie-s-Computer-4:~ artie$ cd /Applications
Artie-s-Computer-4:Applications artie$ sudo find . -not -user root -not -user $anadmin -ls
Artie-s-Computer-4:Applications artie$ # Identify items writeable by groups other than wheel and admin
Artie-s-Computer-4:Applications artie$ sudo find . -not -group wheel -not -group admin -perm +020 -ls
Artie-s-Computer-4:Applications artie$ # Identify items that are world-writable
Artie-s-Computer-4:Applications artie$ sudo find . -perm +002 -ls
Artie-s-Computer-4:Applications artie$

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire