Credit the people we build on
Built on giants.
Almost nothing here is ours. Fork Along works because thousands of people built brilliant software and gave it away — the operating system, the terminal, the language, the tools. They're the real heart of this.
"Most of this works because someone else did the hard part, and gave it away. We name them, thank them, and help them."
So here's a running list of what we stand on — and where to send a few bucks back. Forking a project this week? Find who it stands on, and give them some too.
Linux (the kernel)
Every server, phone and fork you'll ever run sits on it. Ubuntu included.
Donate →Debian
The free operating system Ubuntu itself is built on. Volunteer-run since 1993.
Donate →GNU / Free Software Foundation
The tools — and the licence — that made "free" actually mean free.
Donate →Git
Version control — the whole reason "fork" is even a word here. Home: Software Freedom Conservancy.
Donate →curl
The little command quietly moving data behind nearly everything online.
Donate →Python
The language a total beginner and an AI can both read out loud.
Donate →PostgreSQL
The rock-solid database that just quietly keeps your data safe.
Donate →Let's Encrypt
Free HTTPS for the entire web — the padlock on this very page.
Donate →
Blender
Professional 3D and animation, given away to the whole world.
Donate →GIMP
Serious image editing with no subscription, ever.
Donate →Krita
Digital painting built by artists, free for artists.
Donate →Inkscape
Vector graphics — logos, icons, this fork mark's cousins — for free.
Donate →Godot Engine
Make games you actually own, on an engine that takes no cut.
Donate →VLC / VideoLAN
Plays anything you throw at it, asks for nothing.
Donate →Wikipedia / Wikimedia
The commons we all quote, kept free of ads by donations.
Donate →OpenStreetMap
The map of the world that anyone can own and improve.
Donate →Signal
Private messaging for everyone, funded entirely by people like us.
Donate →