Absolutely - I agree with your points. UX is all about making tasks as easy as possible for the end-user. If your site can function without user accounts, allow people to partake anonymously.

This system can be seen on stackexchange - people can anonymously ask and answer questions, and it works. I answered my first few questions anonymously before deciding to create an account to keep track of some good questions I'd found.

If your site can function desirably without user signups, you should definitely not require them. Possibly in a forum setting (you mentioned posting) you might want to tie posts to users to prevent things like impersonation - though that could be just another 'perk' to creating an account (reserving a username).

You're along the right lines in my opinion.

Absolutely - I agree with your points. UX is all about making tasks as easy as possible for the end-user. If your site can function without user accounts, allow people to partake anonymously.

This system can be seen on Stack Exchange - people can anonymously ask and answer questions, and it works. I answered my first few questions anonymously before deciding to create an account to keep track of some good questions I'd found.

If your site can function desirably without user signups, you should definitely not require them. Possibly in a forum setting (you mentioned posting) you might want to tie posts to users to prevent things like impersonation - though that could be just another 'perk' to creating an account (reserving a username).

You're along the right lines in my opinion.