Forking vs Branching in GitHub

Question

I d like to know more about the advantages and disadvantages of forking a github project vs  creating a branch of a github project   Forking makes my version of the project more isolated from the original one because I don t have to be on the collaborators list of the original project  Since we re developing a project in house  there is no problem in adding people as collaborators  But  we d like to understand if forking a project would make merge changes back to the main project harder  That is  I wonder if branching makes keeping the two projects in sync easier  In other words  is it easier to merge and push changes between my version of the main project and the main project when I branch

User · Answer

It has to do with the general workflow of Git. You're unlikely to be able to push directly to the main project's repository. I'm not sure if GitHub project's repository support branch-based access control, as you wouldn't want to grant anyone the permission to push to the master branch for example.

The general pattern is as follows:

Fork the original project's repository to have your own GitHub copy, to which you'll then be allowed to push changes.
Clone your GitHub repository onto your local machine
Optionally, add the original repository as an additional remote repository on your local repository. You'll then be able to fetch changes published in that repository directly.
Make your modifications and your own commits locally.
Push your changes to your GitHub repository (as you generally won't have the write permissions on the project's repository directly).
Contact the project's maintainers and ask them to fetch your changes and review/merge, and let them push back to the project's repository (if you and them want to).

Without this, it's quite unusual for public projects to let anyone push their own commits directly.

User · Answer

Forking creates an entirely new repository from existing repository  simply doing git clone on gitHub bitbucket   Forks are best used  when the intent of the    split    is to create a logically independent project  which may never reunite with its parent   Branch strategy creates a new branch over the existing working repository  Branches are best used  when they are created as temporary places to work through a feature  with the intent to merge the branch with the origin   More Specific  - In open source projects it is the owner of the repository who decides who can push to the repository  However  the idea of open source is that everybody can contribute to the project  This problem is solved by forks  any time a developer wants to change something in an open source project  they don   t clone the official repository directly  Instead  they fork it to create a copy  When the work is finished  they make a pull request so that the owner of the repository can review the changes and decide whether to merge them to his project  At its core forking is similar to feature branching  but instead of creating branches a fork of the repository is made  and instead of doing a merge request you create a pull request  The below links provide the difference in a well-explained manner   https   blog gitprime com the-definitive-guide-to-forks-and-branches-in-git  https   buddy works blog 5-types-of-git-workflows http   www continuousagile com unblock branching html

User · Answer

Here are the high-level differences   Forking  Pros   Keeps branches separated by user Reduces clutter in the primary repository Your team process reflects the external contributor process   Cons   Makes it more difficult to see all of the branches that are active  or inactive  for that matter  Collaborating on a branch is trickier  the fork owner needs to add the person as a collaborator  You need to understand the concept of multiple remotes in Git   Requires additional mental bookkeeping This will make the workflow more difficult for people who aren t super comfortable with Git    Branching  Pros   Keeps all of the work being done around a project in one place All collaborators can push to the same branch to collaborate on it There s only one Git remote to deal with   Cons   Branches that get abandoned can pile up more easily Your team contribution process doesn t match the external contributor process You need to add team members as contributors before they can branch

User · Answer

You cannot always make a branch or pull an existing branch and push back to it  because you are not registered as a collaborator for that specific project   Forking is nothing more than a clone on the GitHub server side    without the possibility to directly push back with fork queue feature added to manage the merge request   You keep a fork in sync with the original project by    adding the original project as a remote fetching regularly from that original project rebase your current development on top of the branch of interest you got updated from that fetch    The rebase allows you to make sure your changes are straightforward  no merge conflict to handle   making your pulling request that more easy when you want the maintainer of the original project to include your patches in his project      The goal is really to allow collaboration even though direct participation is not always possible     The fact that you clone on the GitHub side means you have now two  central  repository   central  as  visible from several collaborators   If you can add them directly as collaborator for one project  you don t need to manage another one with a fork       The merge experience would be about the same  but with an extra level of indirection  push first on the fork  then ask for a pull  with the risk of evolutions on the original repo making your fast-forward merges not fast-forward anymore   That means the correct workflow is to git pull --rebase upstream  rebase your work on top of new commits from upstream   and then git push --force origin  in order to rewrite the history in such a way your own commits are always on top of the commits from the original  upstream  repo   See also    Git fork is git clone  Pull new updates from original Github repository into forked Github repository

[git] Forking vs. Branching in GitHub

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