I have participated to some degree in most of the other forums out there, and DFS is, in my humble and personal experience, the best one.
Everything from overly restrictive rules to blatant product obstruction and post manipulation can be found out there. I've dealt with both true gentlemen, and complete tools. In my experience, DFS has the highest ratio of gentleman to tools, which means that most of the time, even controversial and passionate topics can be openly discussed and debated, without devolving to name-calling and petty bickering.
Yes, that other stuff happens, and I myself have been guilty of it, but generally speaking, this place does a really good job of controlling tone without controlling content, and I really appreciate that. And I don't just mean controlling by mods and admins, but also by members, controlling themselves when trouble makers arise, and actively working to maintain that spirit of mutual respect.
It's a good place to hang my hat...