How portlets (JSR-168) fit into struts.
Are there plans to write a frontcontroller for portlets: ActionPortlet (modelled like ActionServlet)? BEA's JSR-168 compliant portal already accepts struts webapps, but from what I can gather the struts app need to be configured to use their frontcontroller (propiertary? not exactly; see the Open Source Project Apache Beehive, but yes, Portlets are not yet part of J2EE & Servlet specification... - you still need a Portlet Container, but even Tapestry and Spring are delivering Portlet support already or very soon).
Doesn't IBM's Portal Server framework use a modified version of Struts? (I don't think; the IBM Portal Server is a MVC based Portal running on their own kind of architecture, but it can easily integrate Struts Portlets: the question is what is a Struts Portlet and is it really the best solution?)
Jetspeed 2 also has its own Struts-Portlet Framework, allowing Struts applications to be developed as JSR-168 portlets. Its still preliminairy work based on a nightly snapshot of Struts (20040407) but already the example application is running fine as a portlet. (I guess this Struts-Portlet Framework was mainly written for integration of existing Struts applications, because it is easier to write a "normal" Portlet with JSF - without any Struts).
The Apache portal project contains a Struts bridge that allows Struts and Struts tiles applications to be run as JSR168 portlets.
I agree that Portlets are an important technology, and that technology should be better integrated into Struts and Struts-Shale, and there should better integration in all Servlet Containers. Microsoft is also give Webparts as part of .net 2.0.