Bear in mind that, for a publicly-traded company, if a CEO makes a decision because it's the right thing rather than because it's the most profitable thing for the shareholders, he will lose his job, and possibly be sued into oblivion. That's the way the rules work.
If Red Hat goes public, things might not change for the better.
Keep in mind a good point that JWZ mentioned in http://www.jwz.org/gruntle/aol.html :
If Red Hat goes public, things might not change for the better.Just something to think about...