But the reason why I would like to see a "BU altcoin" is that it would be a way to test it thoroughly "in the wild". As many Core supporters (including me) have doubts that its consensus will work as expected, it would be the opportunity to the BU team to show that it works well.
cough testnet cough
run it on testnet.. oh look now you have your own separate network to test it in the wild
No, I'm not referring to bugs or so. I'm referring to the Emergent Consensus model. How would it behave in the wild, what incentives would it offer to miners to increase or decrease block size, etc.
That could only be tested in an environment where real money is involved. Likely there will be much manipulation, above all in the initial stage, but perhaps something usable could be the outcome if both parties don't play too unfair.