Why the fuss about the Red Hat IPO?

Some newbie would-be Red Hat IPO investors have been upset that they could not meet the criteria required by E*Trade to open trading accounts. Red Hat is about to come to the market. Because demand usually greatly exceeds supply, E*Trade has elaborated a policy of only allocating shares to experienced investors who do not have a trading history of selling immediately to make a quick profit. In addition, only US residents can apply. Not sure about the US bit -- but ETrade's share allocation policy looks reasonable enough. Red Hat is conducting an IPO to raise capital and -- presumably -- enable existing shareholders to liquidate some of their paper assets in the company. There seems little reason why Red Hat should assist punters in stagging the share price. Or why it should want an army-come fan club of small investors, all seeking to buy in to a Linux stalwart. Just because it's a Linux stalwart ®