Archive:Project fork

2005-03-03T18:48:47Z

199.120.189.49: capitalization, punctuation

In [[software]], a '''project fork''' or '''branch''' happens when a developer (or a group of them) takes code from a project and starts to develop independently of the rest. The term is also used more loosely to represent a similar branching of any work (for example, there are several forks of the English language [[Wikipedia]]).

The term is particularly used in [[free software|free]] or [[open source]] software, when a [[schism]] occurs because of different goals or personality clashes. Some see forks as a weakness in open source, but they can demonstrate the adaptability of the model. The relationship between the different teams can be cordial or very bitter.

In a fork of this type, both parties inherit identical [[intellectual rights]] but typically only the larger group, or that containing the original [[software architecture|architect]], will retain the full original name and its associated [[social capital]]. Thus there is a reputation penalty associated with forking.

This can happen in closed-source software as well, if the rights to the common code are shared; but this is rarer, as usually there are strict rules about ownership of the code. More commonly in closed source software, a developer forks its own code to develop two versions, such as a windowed version and a command line version.

Another sort of fork is a standard practice in many projects: to fork a ''stable'' or ''release'' version which will be modified only for bug fixes, while a ''development'' tree continues to get new features added. This is common practice in the [[Linux kernel]], for instance, but has been misrepresented occasionally in the trade press as the more problematic sort of fork described above. [http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20041121124609671]

In some cases, a fork can merge back into the original project or replace it. [[EGCS]] (Experimental/Enhanced GNU Compiler System) was a fork from [[GNU Compiler Collection|GCC]] which proved more vital than the original project and was eventually "blessed" as the official GCC project.

Likewise, when development of the [[Mozilla]] suite (Seamonkey) appeared bogged down and overly beholden to [[Netscape Communications Corporation|Netscape]]'s commercial needs, some Mozilla developers started a separate stripped-down browser project. This developed into [[Mozilla Firefox]], which has been sufficiently successful to become the primary focus of [[Mozilla Foundation]] browser activity.

==Other examples==

*[[Enciclopedia Libre]] is a fork from the [http://es.wikipedia.org Spanish-language Wikipedia] to evade possible advertising.
*[[Pretty Good Privacy]] was forked outside of the United States to free it from the restrictive laws on the exportation of cryptographic software.
*[[XEmacs]] was a fork from [[Emacs]] to support the proprietary Energize environment.
*The split of [[Berkeley Software Distribution|BSD]] from AT&T [[Unix|UNIX]].
*The many varieties of [[proprietary]] [[Unix|UNIX]] — all derived from AT&T UNIX and all called "UNIX", but increasingly mutually incompatible. ''See'' [[UNIX wars]].
*The development of the [[NTFS]] filesystem by Microsoft based upon previous work on [[HPFS]] that was left to [[IBM]]
*The game [[Nethack]] has spawned a number of variants using the original code (it is sometimes thought of as a fork of [[Rogue (computer game)|Rogue]], but its code was written independently).
*[[OpenBSD]] was originally a fork from [[NetBSD]], arising from conflicts of personality between NetBSD developers.
*[[OpenSSH]] was a fork from [[SSH]], which happened because the license for SSH 2.x was "[[non-free]]" (even though the source was available), so an older version of SSH 1.x, which was the last to have been licensed as [[free software]], was forked. Within months, virtually all Linux distributions, BSD versions and even some proprietary Unixes had replaced SSH with OpenSSH.
*The [[Xorg]] [[X Window System|X]] server was a fork from [[XFree86]] for a very similar reason as that of SSH and OpenSSH. Development on [[X11]] has since speeded up and most distributions have switched.
*[[DragonflyBSD]] forked from [[FreeBSD]] in order to pursue different technical approaches to those used in FreeBSD 5.
* [[Inkscape]] forked from [[Sodipodi]].

==See also==
*[[revision control]]

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Archive:Project fork