Forks on github. Is my understanding correct?

Question

git

Disclaimer: I have never used github (and indeed the version control system in general), I just decided to ask.
Do I understand correctly that when I fork a repository, I make a full copy.
But will it be considered a fork of changing the code, adding anything and so on.
Is it true that the fork is needed for the variability (different versions, different appearance of the program, additional functionality) of the forked repository, and this does not mean that the parent repository will accept changes made in the fork?

Answer 1

Fork is a clone of a repository with all the history and state at the time it was created. At the same time, the connection with the original repository is preserved and you can optionally synchronize the data to your fork from there or make pull requests to the original repository.
For what purpose do you fork yourself - the tenth thing. If the code in the original repository allows modification (open-source), you can do whatever you want with it - sharpen it for yourself, develop a feature that you then send to the original project, and so on. If you make modifications purely for yourself, you do not need to coordinate anything with the authors of the original project. If you want to suggest a feature to them, then first open an issue in the original repository, discuss it if necessary, and then fork and offer a pull request.

Answer 2

A fork is purely your copy of the repository. From the moment of "forking" you get a current copy, which then does not synchronize with the original in any way. In other words, it is only yours. Changes in the fork will not affect the original in any way.
In the future, you can manually synchronize the fork with the original, thereby updating your copy. Generally, forks are used to prepare changes to the original: you can't fork the original version because it has a different owner (not you) - to do this, you must first make a copy for yourself, make changes in the copy, and only then offer the owner of the original to apply them at home.
Sometimes forks are used to create a separate "branch" that is radically different from the original: for example, when you have a completely different vision of what the project should look like and you want to rewrite it.