I'm on two forums. Gardenbanter doesn't need you to log in to read, only if you want to post, and you can set it up to store your password (OK if you don't share your computer) so that logging in just means two clicks to submit a post rather than one.

The other forum uses better software, with much more control on what shows on your screen (eg new posts, or new posts only to threads you've contributed to). And again it can store your password so logging in is one click. I don't find it any hassle.

We're better disciplined on the second forum, starting new threads in the particular area when we get thread drift. And if we don't, the mods will often split a topic. That means people have all the techie stuff together and separated out from the idle chat. It works well - it's the "idle chat" that gets people posting every day, and it's often the ones posting in the idle chat area who have the knowledge to answer the techie questions.

I'm not saying forums are better than usenet. There are some things they do well, and some they do badly - like threading. If you have to make the move, you can change your behaviour to make the effects less of a nuisance.