That makes no sense to me. The forum owner/founder had to choose a forum in the beginning, right? If the forum owner chose poorly, then it makes for a frustrating experience thus only the most under-served niches/people will participate. Ultimately the community starts somehow and, to me, the forum software is a critical piece. It should be fluid, fast, and not get in posters' way.

exactly. Yup, totally agree. The core people who visit the community could care less about searching for something.

And the casual visitors don't need to search a ton because they came to a specific forum thread through a Google search.