As someone who hardly ever attempted to use a mailing list, I preferred forums because I was worried of waisting everyone on the list's time. In fact, the couple times I did use it, people complained about my usage. It felt like shouting for help in a room that may or may not be crowded. A forum felt more like putting a sign up and interested folks could engage though often nobody would. Chat is nice because there is an immediate back and forth and feels more beginner friendly / welcoming. However, chat needs an FAQ section. I think LLMs trained on chat logs may be an interesting tool.