are there any plans to make
the discussion pages better (more like a threaded discussion forum)?
Well, there's the LiquidThreads project:
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:LiquidThreads
However, that page doesn't contain any info on the current status - but
I think it's still actively in development. Not sure about an ETA
though; Rob or Brion probably know more about that.
-- F.