--- title: What is a fork, really, and how GitHub changed its meaning description: GitHub redefined the term 'fork' to mean a personal copy of a repository used to propose changes via pull requests — what the broader git community would call... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/what-is-a-fork-really-and-how-github-changed-its-meaning-qgbr42chy twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: What is a fork, really, and how GitHub changed its meaning | daily.dev og:description: GitHub redefined the term 'fork' to mean a personal copy of a repository used to propose changes via pull requests — what the broader git community would call... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/what-is-a-fork-really-and-how-github-changed-its-meaning-qgbr42chy og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/QGBr42CHy.png og:image:alt: What is a fork, really, and how GitHub changed its meaning og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # What is a fork, really, and how GitHub changed its meaning **[Drew DeVault](https://daily.dev/sources/drewdevault)** · 6 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary GitHub redefined the term 'fork' to mean a personal copy of a repository used to propose changes via pull requests — what the broader git community would call a 'personal branch'. The original meaning of 'fork' refers to a permanent, independent split of a project (e.g., ffmpeg → libav), typically a traumatic event. Git was designed around a 'bazaar' model where there is no single canonical upstream, and contributors share changes via email-based workflows. GitHub's centralized 'cathedral' model co-opted these terms to keep users on their platform, obscuring git's truly distributed nature. The same rebranding happened with 'pull request', which git itself implements as a distributed email-based tool. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Put a Fork in It: The Future of Open Source That’s ‘Done’](https://daily.dev/posts/put-a-fork-in-it-the-future-of-open-source-that-s-done--e0z71tw7c) · The New Stack · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Before GitHub](https://daily.dev/posts/before-github-jjxtuvtbh) · Armin Ronacher · 95 upvotes · 5 comments - [GitHub is the wrong shape for this new world](https://daily.dev/posts/github-is-the-wrong-shape-for-this-new-world-sobuyfyho) · Hacker News · 2 upvotes · 2 comments --- Tags: [#open-source](https://daily.dev/tags/open-source), [#github](https://daily.dev/tags/github), [#git](https://daily.dev/tags/git) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/what-is-a-fork-really-and-how-github-changed-its-meaning-qgbr42chy) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"What is a fork, really, and how GitHub changed its meaning","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/what-is-a-fork-really-and-how-github-changed-its-meaning-qgbr42chy","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/what-is-a-fork-really-and-how-github-changed-its-meaning-qgbr42chy"},"datePublished":"2026-03-31T12:28:50.900Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T12:45:19.728Z","description":"GitHub redefined the term 'fork' to mean a personal copy of a repository used to propose changes via pull requests — what the broader git community would call...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--HRgLpUt6--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2003","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--HRgLpUt6--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2003","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Drew DeVault","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Drew DeVault","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--BGhGBu0U--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774960025/logos/drewdevault?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/drewdevault"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/what-is-a-fork-really-and-how-github-changed-its-meaning-qgbr42chy","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"open-source,github,git","timeRequired":"PT6M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Drew DeVault","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/drewdevault"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"What is a fork, really, and how GitHub changed its meaning"}]} ```