"Fork" has several meanings in this context:
1. On Github, a copy of software repository is called a "fork" of the original.
2. With open source software, anyone is able to make a copy of the software and modify it. The new software is called a "fork". Nearly all alt-coins are forks of Bitcoin.
3. The Bitcoin block chain is really a tree of blocks, but the branches are generally very short-lived. If a group of miners adds blocks to the block chain that are rejected by the other miners, then there will be two persistent branches and this is called a "fork".
Gavin's 20 MB max block size "fork" is a combination of all three. He is considering making a copy of Bitcoin Core on Github (#1 "fork"). Instead of limiting blocks to 1 MB, it will support a 20 MB block (#2 "fork"). As a result, if some miners use the original version and other miners use his version, then there will be a fork (#3 fork) in the block chain (because the 1 MB group rejects 20 MB blocks as invalid).
Topic: What is Bitcoin Fork? - page 2. (Read 1143 times)
Decentralization is all about concensus... You cannot run 3 versions of Bitcoin code on different computers and still have them all operating in the same way.
If someone change the code/protocol and post it somewhere... it has to be updated by all the clients using it, to have a single Bitcoin functioning in the same way.
It's like a fork in a road... people can decide to take the new updated route or follow the same old route... if half of the people follow the old route and the other half follow the new road, you would have a Bitcoin fork.
It has been done in this way, to prevent someone from making their own changes to the protocol/code and then exploiting people with backdoors etc etc.. Developers all over the world, make sure that the code published, is free from nasty surprises and then they accept it, and people can use it without having to worry if it was compromised. {Open source + decentralization + consensus}
This is why it's such a great technology. {You can make your own version, but it's not to say, everyone will start using it} Hence .. Alt coins
If someone change the code/protocol and post it somewhere... it has to be updated by all the clients using it, to have a single Bitcoin functioning in the same way.
It's like a fork in a road... people can decide to take the new updated route or follow the same old route... if half of the people follow the old route and the other half follow the new road, you would have a Bitcoin fork.
It has been done in this way, to prevent someone from making their own changes to the protocol/code and then exploiting people with backdoors etc etc.. Developers all over the world, make sure that the code published, is free from nasty surprises and then they accept it, and people can use it without having to worry if it was compromised. {Open source + decentralization + consensus}
This is why it's such a great technology. {You can make your own version, but it's not to say, everyone will start using it} Hence .. Alt coins
they are nothing more than a upgrade to the client, they could be hard and nullify the previous version(so upgrading is mandatory) or softand they can keep something of the previous version
In non-technical terms, I fork simply means the developer (central controlling authority, aka Gavin) decided to make a mandatory change that will require an update to the client. 
I dont know much about the bitcoin fork, i wonder if it will have any major affect on the price of Bitcoin, and if it does, whether or not it would be bullish or bearish. Is there any news when/if this fork will go into affect?
hi i've been wondering about Gavin's 20MB fork?
i don't know what it is. can someone please explain it in simple explanation
i don't know what it is. can someone please explain it in simple explanation
At the moment, with the number of users we have, we're averaging a blocksize of about 0.4MB and there's a limit of 1MB. If we want more users on the Bitcoin network, this won't be sufficient as the blocks would fill up and only some of the waiting transactions would make it into the next block. The rest would have to wait for another block. If Bitcoin had even a tenth of the number of users as any credit card, you could be waiting a long time for your transaction to be confirmed. This is why many think the limit needs to be raised. In order to raise the limit, people need to update their clients and anyone using the old client will be on a different (or forked) chain.
It is a modification to the bitcoin protocol that increases the maximum block size from 1 MB to 20 MB. If the different clients do not update to this new version, then the blockchain could split (fork) into one chain that has 20 MB blocks and one that doesn't because other clients would reject the latest blocks. The idea is that the entire network can be on the 20 MB block blockchain and the blockchain thus forks from its current state.
Current block size limit is 1mb. Gavin would like to increase it to 20mb
hi i've been wondering about Gavin's 20MB fork?
i don't know what it is. can someone please explain it in simple explanation
i don't know what it is. can someone please explain it in simple explanation
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