and for a demo: http://try.discourse.org/

Interesting blog post. I didn't realize StackExchange tries to stifle discussion. I'll have to look it over. This is what we're trying to do here at Hawkee except with an emphasis on sharing code within the discussion.

I poked around a bit and it is pretty nice. I like the modern icons and buttons, but I feel the design is a little too busy. I noticed they used hearts for likes. I'm still considering doing that here on Hawkee.

For such modern software I'm surprised its not responsive. I wonder why the StackExchange folks haven't made the move to responsive.

I wasn't a big fan of the design either. It was hard to comprehend at times.

Having all posts crammed onto one page is a little disparaging and confusing, but it's got a refreshing look to it. Certainly could use some tweaking.

@Sorasyn Don't all forums show all the posts on one page?

Most of the ones I've encountered have been grouped into sub-forums, such as "General Discussion," etc...

Ah I see what you mean. That's the route we've taken here at Hawkee as well. No more categories.