How to get a Python shell with the Odoo environment?
Ideally IPython.
I don't have a clear idea what I want to achieve but over the years I've come to love the possibility of Python (and JavaScript, as opposed to PHP) to just be in a shell with all the relevant code and figure out things. Much better way to learn and code than reading a book or even API documentation.
I started playing around a bit.
$ ipython
import openerp
openerp.cli.main()

Kasper, may I ask what you want to achieve? `python openerp-server` should do start the server. Have a look at the help for flags / configurations.