I think gear talk, per se, neither stifles creativity nor boosts it -- it's tangential, or even orthogonal, to creativity. The way I see it, there are 3 main reasons for being strongly interested in camera equipment and in discussing it with others:
1. Cameras as image-making devices: This is the interest in knowing more about how the equipment can help you take better pictures, and in sharing that knowledge with others. In this case, the creativity and desire to make pictures comes from within, and gear-talk is really just about understanding the tools of the art/craft. It's like painters discussing how various combinations of brush bristles, paint formulations and canvas can be used to produce different effects in a painting. I have trouble imagining that this is objectionable on RFF.
2. Interest in the physical properties of optics, image capture media, output media, etc. Without scientists and engineers (and hobbyist-amateurs as well) who are interested in image-making, there would be no camera equipment at all, so I would not dare to denigrate this sort of obsession in any way. 🙂
3. Appreciation of fine cameras and lenses as objects of beauty and history. Samurai swords are items of beauty, craftsmanship and engineering, and are appreciated today largely in those terms, since very few people nowadays use them for their intended purpose. People who collect vintage automobiles, corkscrews, coins, whatever -- may approach them primarily as finely crafted objects, and only secondarily as tools for an specific job. This is not related to artistic creativity at all, but is certainly a "valid" basis for interest in gear.
These points of view are not mutually exclusive, either -- many a serious artist enjoys his equipment for its own sake. (That didn't come out right.)
I don't think contributions to the collective creativity of the forum members is a reasonable criterion for judging the value of gear-related posts on RFF. Only art/creativity-related posts should be judged by that criterion.
I can certainly understand that those who don't need or wish to know anything more about their gear find such discussions useless and annoying, and would prefer that RFF not devote so much space to them. But that is not a reason, IMO, for mocking or denigrating those who are interested in such discussions. That sentiment really goes to the question of what is the purpose of RFF? Is it a forum for true artists and experts to hold forth and disburse their hard-won wisdom, or is it a forum for all photography enthusiasts -- of pictures as well as of gear -- to converse at their various levels of sophistication?
As to the general quality of discourse and information on RFF today vs. a few years ago: That may be an unfortunate result of the recent and rapid spread of internet technologies that foster personal expression. I think people increasingly tend to treat discussion forums like they would blogs or twitter, where the mere fact that communication is taking place is at least as important, psychologically, as the content. This criticism, IMO, is entirely justified: The response that "if the posts bore you then look away" is appropriate when talking about people's blogs. But pollution of public forums with nonsense and misinformation just to feel a part of things is akin to yapping incessantly on your cell phone at a cocktail party -- it serves only the yapper, and drives away everyone else, ruining the party.
I'm not sure the above is even worth 2 cents, but there it is anyway.
::Ari
