And, of course, so can the fork with all changes of merit that the mainline project produces. In the end, the decision between the two will be based on momentum

And, of course, so can the fork with all changes of merit that the mainline project produces. In the end, the decision between the two will be based on momentum and politics (as in: will the fork produce enough shiny Medium posts and HN buzz to get people to switch to them, or pressure Node into backpedalling and getting rid of Vagg?), unless the fork actually can't find enough competent technical people to just keep track of and merge the mainline changes.