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Currently, in Python's standard library, there is 
apparently no coherent, cross-platform way of getting 
the user's environment to "open" files or resources 
(ie. show such files in browsers, editors) when 
requested by a Python program. There is an 
os.startfile function which works for Windows, but no 
equivalent function for other desktop environments - 
the webbrowser module seems to employ alternative 
mechanisms in choosing and running external 
programs and presumably does not seek to provide 
general support for non-URL resources anyway. 
 
Since desktop environments like KDE and GNOME 
provide mechanisms for running browsers and editors 
according to the identified type of a file or resource, 
just as Windows "runs" files or resources, it is 
appropriate to have a module which accesses these 
mechanisms. Attached is a simple module which 
seeks to support KDE, GNOME and Windows - the 
latter using the existing os.startfile support - and 
which could be extended to support other desktop 
environments such as Mac OS X, XFCE, CDE (along 
with others deemed important and feasible enough to 
support). 
 
Note that this approach is arguably better than that 
employed by the webbrowser module since most 
desktop environments already provide mechanisms 
for configuring and choosing the user's preferred 
programs for various activities, whereas the 
webbrowser module makes relatively uninformed 
guesses (eg. opening Firefox on a KDE desktop 
configured to use Konqueror as the default browser). 
 
Note also that the startfile function is arguably 
misplaced in the os module; thus, this functionality is 
supplied as a new module rather than as a patch to 
the os module, and the name of the function is 
"open" (like in the webbrowser module) rather than 
"startfile" which is a fairly Windows specific term. One 
could also envisage the desktop module residing 
within the os package to avoid top-level namespace 
pollution. 
 
Recent discussion in the comp.lang.python thread 
"Open PDF" covering this issue can 
be found here: 
http://groups.google.no/group/comp.lang.python/browse_frm/thread/8e00f7c1ccfae166/6168b6728cf64cb7