Thanks. Yeah, after examination of a number of other options I'm leaning toward phpBB -- well, or maybe
PunBB. The people at WordPress have also developed a nice, fast, no frills package called
bbpress, but I think it's still pretty early in development. (Still alpha I believe.) I must say, though, that I'd prefer an emphasis on clarity, efficiency, and a simple, sort of dignified look over bells and whistles. (e.g., I like the look they've given to UBB.threads at
the Longbets site.)
On the other hand, I may just use a blog instead. I have some more thinking and research to do.