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There are two types of people who bring a stove on a backpacking trip: dehydrated food eaters and fresh food eaters. Folding wood stoves, alcohol stoves and most gas stoves (including Jetboil) are designed for one purpose, boiling just enough water to rehydrate a standard Mountain House meal in its included foil bag, which is usually 2 cups per meal, no more.
The truth is, you don't even need a stove. As some have pointed out, you can build a campfire and place your pot over it (for example, the "three stone fire"). You can also rehydrate a lot of foods, including ramen noodles or Mountain House meals, with cold water if you let it sit for a lot longer time--several hours. It won't taste good, but will be palatable. You might say, that's not enough, you want the food to taste great, but remember that you're eating dehydrated meals... bare minimum palatability really is the most you can hope for with some of these meals. In that sense, a stove can be very much an optional piece of equipment. You don't even have to bring dehydrated meals. There are a lot of good foods that can be made into a no-cook meal on the trail.
The other type of person brings a stove that is capable of delicate heat adjustments, may be suitable to use with multiple fuels (including gasoline, for flexibility when resupplying), that includes a robust wind screen; he also brings a range of cookware and food that tastes better when prepared on a stove or in a pot.
I think it's important to realize which type of person you are. Do you even want to carry a mixing bowl to mix pancakes or other foods, a strainer for pasta, to carry a few perishables to eat early on your trip, like raw bacon or eggs, a cutting board to chop vegetables, etc.? Or are you fine eating trail mix, bagels, tuna spreads, tortillas, peanut butter, fresh fruits, hard cheeses, energy bars, etc. for breakfast and lunch, and having dehydrated meals for dinner, thus only requiring your stove to boil 2 cups of water once a day?
