After all the hullabaloo about Godot in the last week, been following in on YouTube and on the web in various sources, when I heard about a fork for Godot called: Redot.
Now, I know absolutely nothing about Github and therefore nothing about “forks”. I don’t understand Github at all and prefer to make backups of my work on my computer. Be it Unreal, Unity, Godot, web dev. Got it where I can find it and if it breaks I have to go back to where I last made a backup sure it’s a pain. I had some tools once about to do with Github, but, I couldn’t get them to work.
So, could someone explain what a fork actually is?
How does a fork work?
And even more importantly how does this affect Godot going forward?
Does this mean the project is split between two parties?
What about further dev into Godot, does this mean that is now fractured?
I am really trying to find out if Godot is a feasible product into the future, or, if I should God forbid, go back to something I used to use but haven’t in a long, long time. I just can’t work on my project today because it is playing on my mind.
You maybe saying why am I being such a “drama queen” about this and its because I am basically autistic it comes with the territory. I want to have all the facts before making a decision. Godot was the best thing that has happened to me in a long while and don’t want it to end. The help and support I have received on this forum has been excellent as well.
A fork is basically a modified version of someone else’s open-source work.
Think of it this way:
Your friend starts writing a book online and shares it with you so you can contribute if you want to. However, halfway through the book, you begin to have your own ideas. You want to take the story in a different direction, but you still want to keep the world and characters your friend has written so far.
So, you make a copy of what your friend has written up to that point. Then, in your own time and on your own terms, you start writing the rest of the story differently, without affecting what your friend is doing. You might even rewrite some parts of the earlier chapters.
That’s essentially what a fork is. Someone makes a copy of the original code up to a certain point and begins modifying it or changing it however they see fit. It doesn’t affect the original work in any way.
Forks started in anger rarely last. I’ve seen the same pattern over the years (Including a Debian fork started because some whacko was angry that there was women moderators). None of them still exist a couple of months later.
This will blow over. Some folks with weird angry political views will feel less welcome. Life goes on.
Any fork is going to be a different engine managed by a different group than the official Godot engine, but will be based upon the Godot code at the point of the fork. (For example, if they forked at the 4.1 Godot release, the fork begins life as an engine with all the features of Godot 4.1, but will not include the changes of Godot 4.2.)
Why do you even want to consider a Godot fork? Does Redot offer a roadmap that is more inline with your needs than Godot might offer you?
Keep in mind that any fork of Godot will include the fundamental problems that Godot suffers from- the problems that the Godot leadership refuse to deal with that are so difficult to correct that any fork will require massive rewriting to resolve, that a new engine architecture would likely be preferable over a Godot fork.
So you may as well just stay with Godot unless Redot is a vibrant contributing effort with a clear roadmap and track record of delivering on their plans.
So, could someone explain what a fork actually is?
Fork is a copy of the original repository, it could be used for many things, the common one is to have your own version where you can add the modifications you need, is pretty common for professionals.
How does a fork work?
You get a copy in your account, both versions are “linked” so you can update your version with changes of the original, you can also send your changes to the original (what you do to propose changes to godot via PRs)
And even more importantly how does this affect Godot going forward?
Nothing, is common, check the high number of forks the project has, it is mostly people with their own copy for their own reasons, and contributors too!
Does this mean the project is split between two parties?
There are nearly 21K forks, do you see it split in 21K parts?
What about further dev into Godot, does this mean that is now fractured?
Nothing is fractured, forks are common, all Linux flavours have many forks, all projects of all the sizes have many forks, sometimes these forks get a new direction and become popular, even Blender has a very popular fork.
Forks are healthy and welcome in the FOSS world. They add to the diversity of ideas and allow experimenting on things that a main project can’t do due to it’s compromises with the userbase.
I think right now this is true. They started less than a week ago and are busy setting up discord, website etc. I doubt besides some logos etc. there is anything different from Godot right now.
I cannot take credit for the following. I found this on another forum from a user by the name REVBENT and think it relevant to share here:
i am not sure if this is the case or not… there seems to be a lot of speculation about this “fork” and what it is exactly… but it sounds like Redot was already in the making and that it was geared more towards VR/XR side of Godot since Godot was not working with certain “people” ( i assume software creators, but idk).
So while it is a “fork” i think its being engaged as an “alternative” due to the current climate. Seemingly pushed too soon with the people pointing out the Godot logo and name is still seen in the program (help section i believe someone said).
I don’t know how factual any of this is, but seemed to be some decently educated folks on Godot’s activity trying to explain this (maybe reddit page).
I tried to join the discord to ask about what it is and what is actually different from people using it, but the discord is not accepting people now, most likely due to the mob of “activists”… errr… programmers(?) i mean…
