We've had discussions about Ho and the French before, which doesn't seem to have entered into this conversation.
IIRC, the initial dialogue between Ho and the French was carried out by one French official, and Ho was well on the way to gaining independence (?autonomy?), but then that guy ?died? ?was recalled? and a hardliner replaced him and the whole war started.
So... If my memories are correct (and they're pretty fuzzy), France could easily have allowed a 'free' Indochina, which would have meant that Ho wouldn't have radicalized and Vietnam might well have done a 'Yugoslavia' - a socialist (even communist) state that was western leaning.