Forks are nothing new in the world of open source software. (“Open source” is software that can be used, and even changed, by anybody. The software supporting Bitcoin is essentially that). When two rival versions of the software are made available at the same time it is known as a fork. It is, in effect, a way of forcing a “vote” on which version users prefer. If one is adopted by the vast majority of people, then it naturally becomes the “winner” and the default version. That is what we are seeing right now in terms of the software that supports Bitcoin.
Sorry but a 4 billion dollar open source project cannot just be forked without super special care about the risk to the ecosystem and the value stored there.
Forks are needed to improve bitcoin. There were a number of forks already.
XT is a fork of Bitcoin Core which implemented BIP101. It's a way to progress and it depends on all the participants of the network to accept it.
Bitcoin is not Core, XT, d or any other software. These are just the implementation of the rules followed by the community.
The blocksize increase is not even the real issue here.
Blockstream have grown to completely dominate bitcoin development. It is unacceptable considering that bitcoin is a decentralized system.
Boiling it down we have 2 choice:
XT = freedom
Core/Blockstream = slavery
When I got into bitcoin, I subscribed to transparency, independence and freedom, not the tyrannical rule of a select few.