"Network Indifference" in the Free Unixes?

PapaZit asks: "Laptop and home users don't alway have access to a network. There are many tasks that can be done off-line, but require an occasional network connection (reading and responding to email, for example). In the Free Unix front, there has been some work in this direction, but it hasn't made it anywhere outside of Windows. Coda has made it possible for me to work with centralized files offline, and I have some ugly scripts involving perl, fetchmail, and procmail that handle email, but I wouldn't inflict them on others. An OS with automated "Network indifference" seems like it would be useful to both novice users and power users, and it's the sort of thing that could make these alternative operating systems more appealing to the masses. Are there any efforts in this direction that could use support or testers? Are people waiting until networking becomes so ubiquitous that the problem goes away?"