“A gesture of goodwill on the part of software maker Red Hat has
generated some ill will with the very people the company hoped to
reward.”
“Linux seller Red Hat had offered several open source
programmers the opportunity to participate in the initial public
offering of the company’s stock, which likely will take place in
the next two weeks. However, at least a dozen people who were
invited to participate have informed Slashdot founder Rob Malda
that they’ve been rejected by E*trade, the electronic trading
company helping with the IPO.”
“It seems all that glitters is not gold in the high tech
industry, even though stories of financial windfall are legion amid
the scene of so many companies rushing to go public. The price of a
hot new issue often jumps markedly, and those who were invited in
during the early stages can make a big profit.”