I agree that it could seem like a wacky edge case. But the idea behind it doesn’t seem so much since it works towards avoiding forum’s centralization.
I understand that this may not be very important for some forums, but it may be for others.
I also agree that removing users and passwords (among other information) from the backup would prevent those same users from logging into the new instance.
That’s why I said that it didn’t seem like the smartest way.
I should probably rephrase my question.
Is there a known way or recommended procedure to publish database backups so that anyone can rebuild a given instance of the forum without exposing users’ private information?