CLS compliance is a new twist on that least common denominator approach to interoperability. The CLS specification is a subset of operations that every language must support.
Knoppix can also be viewed as a "least common denominator" : its purpose is to get the computer running with as little delay or human assistance as possible.
When working with XML data, you need to parse the data to get to the least common denominator-the desired data (or atomic node value, as it is often called).
