It's your blog, so I'll continue your metaphor. You say:
"The "path" created by Oswardo's blow was wider than that of the others, twice as wide as Anier's path, and arrayed with orchids in bloom, and so, was quite pleasing to the eye and senses."
But you don't say "Oswardo toiled night and day, neglecting the cooking of his own food, neglecting correspondence with his friends and family, neglecting the need for a noontime siesta in order to make his path twice as wide and to plant the beautiful orchids."
The orchids weren't just there. Oswardo put them there. In our community, we've talked about how game playing fits into a certain social context. It was one of the defining five threads. As designers, we know that we need to be aware of how the playing of our games will fit into the social context of our players' lives. Is our game built to run in a single evening? Does it require a dozen sessions to really shine? Does everyone need to read certain parts of the book beforehand?
However, it is also important to keep in mind that game design & publishing exists within a social context, as well. Is your game design & publishing the most important priority in your life? Is it the second most important? Is it something you do only AFTER you've fulfilled your obligations as a family member, as an employee, as a friend, as a citizen, and walked the dog, too?
One of the great things that the community has engineered are paths that allow people in that last group (like me) to make their creative products available to others, and possibly make a profit. Those paths are well-trod and more new people flock to them every day.
It's odd to consider Oswardo's path threatening when no one is following it! Really, I'm not seeing people striving to plant orchids all over the place. Oswardo's path is difficult and life-consuming and here we are--a year and half after the biggest part of the path was cut--and we see no one following. I see lots of people following Elequemedo's path. The closest I see to those following Oswardo's path are a couple folks who already have long histories in traditional game publishing, and want the best of both worlds--the production values of the traditional model with the creative control of the indie model.
I think that the community that Fulgencio started has had a number of different goals. As with any artistic movement, individual members are going to prioritize the goals differently. My perception of some of the goals:
• System Does Matter--Thoughtful, consciously-designed rules and procedures can and should replicate the social play experience that the designer intended.
• Self-Publishing--Individual creators do not need to enter potentially exploitative relationships with publishing companies to have their game available to a wide audience. A appropriate blog post is here
• Pushing Boundaries--The assumptions of game design and publishing should all be questioned and put to the test. There was a good livejournal post about it last month here
• Reaching the Mainstream--The appeal of games does not need to be limited to the subculture it has been been in the past. Normal people with everyday lives can enjoy playing games. A blog post is here
There are, no doubt, others. My point is that each independent creator who self-identifies with the community will embrace these various goals with different enthusiasm. They will hold them at different priorities.
Any given path through the jungle will bring people closer to some of those priorities, and farther from others--that's why we're cutting paths in the first place. But just because Oswardo's path leads Oswardo farther from Elequemedo's or Anier's goals, doesn't mean what he's doing is bad for the community. Folks in the community who share more of Oswardo's goals will follow his path. If they had only had Elequemedo's path to follow, they would not have been happy anyway, since it took them away from their own goals.