[rumcajz]

The fork was over trademark policy, not any technical matter. So no, it was not possible to prevent it. To avoid trademark restrictions, it was necessary to change the name of the project.

Anyway, there's only one Linux kernel implementation and I am not aware of anyone trying to do the same (except the dubious attempt to get DBus into kernel).

Finally, the ultimate goal of the whole project is to make messaging integral part of the Internet stack. That means standardising the protocols in IETF. And having at least 3 independent implementations makes it almost suitable for fast-tracking.