Opening a gnome window from a shell

Once in a while, I like to open a folder/directory window while I'm
working in a shell window. (Is there a better word for "window" when
working in Linux?) I can do this under OS/2 with a little bit of Rexx,
and under Windows with "start .".

Can I do this with Gnome? How about with KDE? If so, how?

Keep in mind that I've yet to learn any other scripting language but
Rexx, so if it involves a script I have to ask that it be explicit,
please. I *will* learn shell scripting soon.

Thanks for your time and expertise.

.

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