For those who don't know QuickSilver, or doesn't use Macintosh, QuickSilver is a slick, keyboard-oriented, launcher. It can launch applications, run command-line, open documents, and so much more.
Fortunately, for windows and Linux users, there's Launchy. It's free and open sourced.
Another alternative for Linux OS would be GNOME Do.
Side Note:
I think most people who use QuickSilver knows that it is open source. Here is the QuickSilver project at Google Code:
http://code.google.com/p/blacktree-alchemy/
Resources: