Fork (software development)

In software engineering, a project fork happens when a copy of source code from one software package is made into a different piece of software. Forking is not only creating a new branch from the old software, but also a split in support between the old and new software. Free and open-source software is code that may be forked from the original development team without prior permission.^[1] This does not violate copyright law. However, licensed forks of proprietary software (e.g. Unix) also happen.