I really want to assume good faith here, but I’m struggling with the obvious conflict of interests the Determinate Systems team has. How can I trust that your team, which also helps set priorities for Nix, is not holding back on features for Nix in favor of shipping them in your fork? I get that it’s easier to avoid dealing with “upstream” but when it’s literally some of the same people, don’t you think it sends a bad signal to blame upstream? I also note you didn’t say “it’ll help us gain evidence for eventually upstreaming” but instead you only say it’ll help you with operational experience.
If you want to move on and do your own thing, then I encourage you to do so. While I share concerns about fragmentation in the ecosystem, unfortunately between your fork and Lix that’s already a reality. I suspect that many people here wouldn’t necessarily be interested in a version of Nix marketed towards enterprises, but what really bothers them is the ethical concerns raised by the current status quo.