Drupal: Community at the cost of code

I'm probably the last person who should be writing something like this, seeing as how my interest in Drupal is and has always been one from a perspective that it was the best tool for the job. In many ways, I'm part of the (probably) unquantified mass of people who use Drupal on a daily basis, depending on it for my livelihood but being altogether indifferent toward the community. I mean, it's not that I don't like community, but in general I tend to associate with communities who have a particular purpose or shared interest and whose values end goals are reflect my own. This is probably why my local church and amateur radio club get the most attention of my time when I'm on my own time—so I'll be honest and just say that in general I'm indifferent to the community that surrounds Drupal.

Why is that? Well to be fair the mission, means, and goals of both my local church and amateur radio club are pretty similar when you think about it. In a nutshell, they both have a mission to be community-focused, with a purpose to spread a particular message and offering members the ability to grow in knowledge and wisdom, with a goal of growing and making the world a better place. The only difference is what drives them. One is driven by a communal love for the gospel of Jesus Christ while the other a love for emergency preparedness and awesome toys. Both have discrete membership rules, codes of conduct, and a hierarchy that is respected and trusted.

Because let's face it, FOSS isn't something you just limit to some sort of "day job mentality" where things are generally where you left them and a particular hierarchy is set up and enforced. And while there are people who can manage that, I'm not one of those kinds of people and I'm okay with that.