Collaboration and open source

The most problematic part of Free Software development seems to be the notion of forking which can occur when a subset of users and contributors decides to break from the maintainer and start their own project. I do not think I would try to emulate the fork in the classroom though I would consider the following possibilities:
if a group had a personality conflict or problem that was irreconcilable and was preventing work from happening I would permit or even recommend a change in group structure. (This would happen even in the Free Software model wasn't being used.)
if across several groups it was clear that divergent but not different opinions could be regrouped benefically. That is, if the diversity which is achieved by breaking students up into groups and making them work together wouldn't be removed by adjusting groups, rearrangement could occur. The benefits of putting students with like minds together would have to be substantial.
if more than one student requested a "fork" the maintainer-teacher group should address that as a problem with the assignment and correct it by revising the assignment, if possible.
The most common objections to collaboration are: first, one student does all the work, and the rest tag on her coattails and do nothing; second, some voices, especially historically underrepresented ones, can be left out. I think the "maintainer" concept can help with both these concerns. It foregrounds the process of collaborating and its power dynamic