@cellard:
Indeed, Bitcoin Unlimited has fewer full-time developers than Core. However, there is less work to do, as first-and-foremost Bitcoin Unlimited was intended as a patch-set on top of Core to permit node operators and miners to more easily adjust their node's block size limits and signal their preferences to the network.
Should we get larger blocks, then clearly all of the good developers presently contributing to Core aren't going to simply disappear. Some will patch Core to be compatible while others will move to BU, Btcd, etc. So the idea that larger blocks would lead to fewer developers doesn't make much sense. In fact, since larger blocks would permit Bitcoin to continue to grow how it did during it's first 7 years, larger blocks would likely result in more developers. Hopefully we end up with both more developers and more implementations, helping to decentralize development.
Regarding your comment about BU making improvements beyond the block-size limit patch set, BU was the first client to successfully implement thin blocks, significantly reducing the amount of time and the number of bytes required to communicate a block.
Indeed, Bitcoin Unlimited has fewer full-time developers than Core. However, there is less work to do, as first-and-foremost Bitcoin Unlimited was intended as a patch-set on top of Core to permit node operators and miners to more easily adjust their node's block size limits and signal their preferences to the network.
Should we get larger blocks, then clearly all of the good developers presently contributing to Core aren't going to simply disappear. Some will patch Core to be compatible while others will move to BU, Btcd, etc. So the idea that larger blocks would lead to fewer developers doesn't make much sense. In fact, since larger blocks would permit Bitcoin to continue to grow how it did during it's first 7 years, larger blocks would likely result in more developers. Hopefully we end up with both more developers and more implementations, helping to decentralize development.
Regarding your comment about BU making improvements beyond the block-size limit patch set, BU was the first client to successfully implement thin blocks, significantly reducing the amount of time and the number of bytes required to communicate a block.