I have a somewhat eccentric but dear friend who is as true a "minimalist "as I have met. It is foremost in his consciousness and we have had numerous interesting conversations on the topic. One of his favorite sayings is "waste not, war not" but I digress. This preoccupation with minimalism is occasionally fraught with undesirable results (I told him not to drive 55MPH to save fuel on the freeway lest someone bash into your rear end......it was time for a new truck anyways I suppose)

This minimalist philosophy also lent itself to his tent. The not free standing aspect eventually became a bit of drudgery for him even though he is the most patient person I know and is an engineer (R&D Nissan). Frequently things had presented themselves as less than desirable for quick set up. While I had already set up and was eating dinner he was often still doing "engineering" work.

MT's rule: you have enough hassle in your everyday life, no sense inviting it along on your canoe trip.

I have looked at the minimalist design tents however and would be very likely to take one on a backpacking trip using my walking sticks as supports.