A few days ago, I started out on a new, ambitious SL project: Creation of a free software object server with a networked vendor. As of this writing, I have completed the first iteration of the project, which is a barebones server and matching "giver" object. And today I just implemented inventory checking and communications between the server and client. While still certainly a work in progress, I have put it up for sale both at OnRez and SLEX. As per the GPL though, I will gladly provide the source code to anyone who asks, free of charge.
Development right now is happening with the LAN version(server can only be placed in the same sim as the client object). Once I complete the expected features for the server and client, I will port them to the email and "status light" versions of the server set. So if anybody wants to contribute code, ideas, or suggestions, IM my SL avatar "Antonius Misfit" and let's make it a truly open source project!