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| Newer page: | version 13 | Last edited on Saturday, September 29, 2007 5:12:00 am | by AristotlePagaltzis | Revert |
| Older page: | version 12 | Last edited on Friday, September 28, 2007 4:15:11 pm | by JohnMcPherson | Revert |
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# !! A split or divergence in a software project
Projects fork when one or more groups with different visions from the original project team decide to take a copy of the SourceCode and develop it to their own ends. The SourceCode must be sufficiently [Free] to begin with for this to happen.
- Being able to do this is both a blessing and a curse. Halving the number of developers working on the source for a project more than halves the productivity of each group due to the NetworkEffect – a powerful deterrent to forking. However, a fork can also serve to dissolve the tension in the direction of the previously united project, letting each of the forks focus on a particular agenda. In many (maybe most) cases, all but one of the forks eventually withers
and dies
, and the surviving fork pushes onward with a more well-defined vision that has greater consensus. Forking may therefore contribute to the health of a project in the long term.
+ Being able to do this is both a blessing and a curse. Halving the number of developers working on the source for a project more than halves the productivity of each group due to the NetworkEffect – a powerful deterrent to forking. However, a fork can also serve to dissolve the tension in the direction of the previously united project, letting each of the forks focus on a particular agenda. In many (maybe most) cases, all but one of the forks eventually wither
and die
, and the surviving fork pushes onward with a more well-defined vision that has greater consensus. Forking may therefore contribute to the health of a project in the long term.
In rare cases (such as the Beryl/Compiz split or [GCC]/egcs), the projects eventually reunite.
Well-known examples of forks include:
