I don't believe there will be a fork, I think one way or the other consensus will be reached. It will take a long time and it will be long overdue to fix the scaling issues experienced now but it will happen eventually.
I dont think we have "a long time". I think it might already be holding the price rise back.
If you can't see evidence of people getting frustrated, you're not paying attention. Core needs to remember: The customer is always right.