Software fork: Difference between revisions
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imported>Eric M Gearhart (Removed "multiple versions" section (see Talk:Software fork)) |
imported>Eric M Gearhart (Added my image from BSD) |
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: ''This article is about "forking" of a software project into two or more different projects. For the operating system term for starting a new process, see [[fork (operating system)]]'' | : ''This article is about "forking" of a software project into two or more different projects. For the operating system term for starting a new process, see [[fork (operating system)]]'' | ||
[[Image:BSD_Timeline.png|thumb|220px|right|A timeline of [[BSD]] [[Unix]] development. In this example a fork occurs when the NetBSD project was started, and again when the OpenBSD project was forked from NetBSD]] | |||
A '''fork''' of a [[computer software]] project is generally a version of the original software that makes use of the same (or a compatible) [[license]], but with a development team that is usually under "new management." Forks usually occur when fundamental design differences can't be agreed upon. | A '''fork''' of a [[computer software]] project is generally a version of the original software that makes use of the same (or a compatible) [[license]], but with a development team that is usually under "new management." Forks usually occur when fundamental design differences can't be agreed upon. | ||
Revision as of 16:18, 21 April 2007
- This article is about "forking" of a software project into two or more different projects. For the operating system term for starting a new process, see fork (operating system)
A fork of a computer software project is generally a version of the original software that makes use of the same (or a compatible) license, but with a development team that is usually under "new management." Forks usually occur when fundamental design differences can't be agreed upon.
Notable Forks in the History of Software development
- Unix has been forked literally hundreds, if not thousands of times from the original software developed at Bell Labs
- "The BSDs" (FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD) are three popular forks of the original Berkeley Software Distribution, which is itself a descendant of Unix
External Links
UNIX History, also has a UNIX timeline with a detailed diagram listing forks from the original Unix