[documentation] Hitchhikers guide to Drupal

[Charlie Lowe]

Robert Castelo wrote:
> On 7 Jan 2006, at 15:07, Charlie Lowe wrote:
> 
>> some do not see the value of having these "hitchhikers" (implying, of 
>> course, that they are parasites)
> 
> 
> Not at all, I wrote that they are 'not needed' - that doesn't mean they 
> aren't welcome, or that their company isn't valued, just that if they 
> don't contribute anything they will have zero effect on the journey the 
> rest of the participating Drupal community is taking.

"Users who don't contribute to Drupal are hitchhikers. Nobody needs them 
onboard, Drupal will get from A to B fine with or without them . . ."

Well, it doesn't have to mean that, but many users would have 
interpreted it as they are not really welcome. I should also mention 
that a positive connotation of the word hitchiker comes from a more 
geek-centric, Douglas Adams understanding of the term.

Meanwhile, instead of clarifying FOSS development in this page so that 
those people with the improper misinterpretation have the correct 
understanding of how the community works, we now have an introductory 
document that tells people not to complain because they should be 
appreciative. IMHO, because of the current rhetorical strategy of the 
Hitchhiker page, it should be posted to the forums and anyone that wants 
to could link to it in replies to complaints, but it does not belong in 
the About section. This is the wrong ethos to project for the Drupal 
community.