I'm so used to ftb that I prolly wouldn't play on a server that didn't at least have /spawn & /home. It'd make cave-exploring annoying, people wouldn't be encouraged to go out and explore more which I honestly think is one of the best things about Minecraft, and even if we did have a whitelist, griefers could still get in. I think towns are great, really I do but not everyone wants to settle in a village and nether hubs are dangerous and take lots of time and resources to build. Our last "hub" was never even completed before the server went down. Unless we built it in creative. And last time I checked, most people were against that.
I know it sucks waiting for Bukkit to update but honestly, I think it's worth it. These mods were meant to make gameplay a little easier. I think it's worth the wait.