[@ipstenu Moderator 16 years, 9 months ago]

Also, with deep integration, the theme works instantly, except that it seems to be discouraged in the installation instructions because of the heavier load. But if bbPress turns into a plugin, wouldn’t the end result (and load) be the same as in deep integration?

Yes and no. As it is now, deep integration with standalone bbPress duplicates many functions included in WordPress. The load gets larger becuase you’re doing the same thing multiple ways, multiple times.

If bbPress was a plugin, one would presume that instead of duplicating WP functions, it would instead utilize them.

Mind you, I’m neither pro-nor-anti plugin, I’m just accepting that was the decision, and wanting to make the move the easiest Same as the whole WP -> WPMU eventuality. It’ll happen, regardless of my opinion, it can be made to work, so let’s make it work! (tm Tim Gunn).