I really, really support that. It’s threaded by default, requires only a simple signup and in the end is just text email. You can use a mailing list with any email client you choose. Web-based forums are notoriously unsafe and each one has its own eccentricities, not least regarding text formatting. I don’t want to put up with that.

That being said, the old Usenet was indeed a place to properly discuss. I can even remember a time before that, of using FidoNet, a BBS-based messaging platform. The quality of discussion in the proper channels there was pretty great.