I couldn't really recommend a specific host for you, I'm hosted by a friend of mine. I know she offers good hosting at a reasonable price, but I don't think the service is officially 'public' yet.

As for the forums... if you're willing to put out some cash, UBB is pretty nice, I used it for a while.

But, if you want something free (and open source of course), check out www.freshmeat.net and just look around, see what you find.