Consider this context: under [Windows], [start] can generally be trusted to attempt some useful "launch the application/document/item/...", very much as command-line open does under [Mac OS X]. At a policy level, one also often hears, "Well, there are good standards for installing an application under Windows (or Mac OS X), but [Unix] (or [Linux]) is 'all over the map'. Unix needs a framework so we don't have to develop a separater installer/... for each flavor." The Portland project [http://portland.freedesktop.org/wiki/Project] aims to fulfill that need. At least, it does, very broadly. While several bright people [[provide references]] are enthusiastic about Portland, [CL] regards its ambitions as severely limited. Even when the first couple of releases of Portland are complete, it will leave many, MANY questions of interoperability unanswered. 2007 might end with Portland only creeping past its x86-Linux [GNOME]-[KDE] base.