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Recently in Salon Technology

Where the wild feeds are
When Bill Gates uses the F-word, it doesn't show up on TV. But Web sites featuring raw satellite transmissions let it all hang out.
By Frank Houston
[07/29/99]

Girl talk
Are frank online discussions of blow jobs and masturbation empowering teen girls -- or turning them into Lolitas?
By Janelle Brown
[07/28/99]

Cable à la modem
How did AT&T engineer its open-access victory in San Francisco?
By Mark Gimein
[07/27/99]

Silicon Follies
Silicon Follies
Chapter 39: Hackers of the world, unite -- geeks plot palace coup
By Thomas Scoville
[07/27/99]

Column
Should journalists and IPOs mix?
A San Jose Mercury News columnist's suspension reveals less about ethics than about the newsroom's changing balance of power.
By Scott Rosenberg
[07/27/99]

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This is the story of how that gold turned to lead for about 400 software developers passionately devoted to Red Hat Inc. -- a story from the front lines of a battle between the idealistic world of open source and the real world forces who run this country.

Starting July 20, Red Hat sent at least 1,000 e-mails to a group of software developers who had contributed to the products Red Hat sells, in particular a Linux-based operating system. The e-mail began: "Dear open source community member: In appreciation of your contribution to the open source community, Red Hat is pleased to offer you this personal, non-transferable, opportunity."

"Red Hat couldn't have grown this far without the ongoing help and support of the open source community," the letter continued. "Therefore, we have reserved a portion of the stock in our offering for distribution online to certain members of the open source community. We invite you to participate."

The letter also stated that that the stock distribution would be made via E-Trade Securities, and that you needed to establish an active trading account with E-Trade, pronto.

Six hours after receiving the e-mail I was on the 11 p.m. train from Boston down the eastern corridor; 14 hours and a sunrise later I was in New Jersey where my savings bonds, earmarked for repayment of college debt, lay in a safe-deposit box. A meeting with a friendly bank officer, a cashier's check and a signature -- and my application for an account on E-Trade was on its way. E-Trade required a minimum deposit of $1,000 to open a trading account, and Red Hat's shares were to be sold in 100-block lots, at an opening price of around $10-$12 a share, so I had to find at least $1,200. As a typical Linux hacker I didn't have much ready cash. But I scraped together enough for 200 shares.

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