Thanks to tuxis.nl, we’ve got mailing lists!
For users, this doesn’t make the IRC channel or the forum deprecated but adds a new media for those who prefer it.
Those who are interested in VyOS development are encouraged to subscribe to the vyos-developers list, as it’s likely to become an important place for development discussions (forums are not very convenient, and IRC conversations are too ephemeral and synchronous for things like design and release planning).