“9:43 p.m. EDT, Wednesday: E-Trade informs me that I am the
owner of 400 shares of Red Hat Software, bought at the initial
offer price of $14. I exhale breath I’ve been holding for three
weeks. Somehow, I never believed it would actually turn out
this way, that I’d end up with stock in my hands.”
“About three weeks ago, on July 20, Red Hat sent an e-mail to
hundreds of software developers offering us a chance to participate
in its initial public offering…”
“But was it all worth it? The whole process nearly tore our
community apart. So, I really don’t know.”