Phil Greenspun, an interesting "open source thinker" has an interview on http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail94.html.
Some points he makes that I found interesting:
1) Weblogs were surprising because the technology is so trivial
2) In selling open source products you need to be more efficient than
companies internal IT department. As the publisher of an open source product
companies will typically turn to you for updates because they trust you and it
makes it easier if modifications are merged into the main source code.
3) When trying to selling a book that is available online it is important that the
print is attractive and on nice paper. What they can't get from a laser printer.
4) Tools for web development haven't improved that much since the 90's.