The client (or provider) has bugger all to do with it. I'm old and cranky, and have hated mailing lists since I was a young 'un. Properly-threaded, searchable f

The client (or provider) has bugger all to do with it. I'm old and cranky, and have hated mailing lists since I was a young 'un. Properly-threaded, searchable forums (preferably locally-replicable) are better in every imaginable way. Plato was able to do it sometime back in the early Devonian; Iris/Lotus (whether you like the Notes client or the default app UI or not) made it easy and distributable in the late Cretaceous. The parts exist to make it workable with FOSS and an open, less-astonishing UI, both connected and local. Neither familiarity not ubiquity is an indicator of quality or suitability, and email threads are just about the worst format that can possibly be forced into service in this sphere. That email was once, for all practical purposes, the only available choice doesn't make it the best choice.