I doubt there will be stone throwing, but you may as well just use a different forum software. Trying to make vanilla be like all the other forum software seems a waste of time, when you can just use one of them.
That's not the case at all. I'm not trying to make it like all the other forums, I just want to style the category page is all.
I have been a devoted user of vanilla for many years now, and run my #1 ranked very generic term site using it as the forum.
I have noticed in my travels, that people don't like change, and the forum never has done as well as it used to in the old phpbb days.
I will never go back, and am even integrating V1 into our own custom CMS for client usage.
My only question is in terms of layout view for categories.... Providing users with a known quantity - in my belief that a familiar layout, helps with signups and postings IMHO.
Layout is a cosmetic thing, and I would have thought that someone may have attempted it already - my preference for Vanilla lies under the hood, and that's why I use it.