cpplint: Extract the fork cpplint/cpplint from google/styleguide

[cclauss]

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• Extract repo from Google styleguide cpplint/cpplint#341 discusses separating the widely used cpplint (300k+ downloads a month) from the also widely used Google Style Guide because these codebases serve different purposes and audiences. They have diverged significantly over the years, yet they are both popular. Is there a way to detach the fork (aka leave the fork network) that does not involve losing all issues, pull requests, history, etc?
  @jayvdb @aaronliu0130

[aaronliu0130]

As mentioned in the issue, our main motivation for uncoupling is to make the default PR target our repo instead of the Google style guide repo. If there's another way to do that for PRs from branches on our repo, that should also solve the problem.

[jayvdb]

I believe detaching will not effect the cpplint/cpplint issues/PRs/etc

[aaronliu0130]

As cclauss found in the issue linked above, it would:

The new repository will not retain any of its issues, pull requests, wikis, stars, watchers, comments, child forks, or other metadata that may currently be associated with your current fork.

[jayvdb]

oh, that is a strange and undesirable side effect

[MegaMind1212]

Hey @jayvdb and @aaronliu0130 , I get that you want to decouple cpplint from the Google styleguide repo to make your repo the default PR target, but detaching the fork directly will indeed wipe out all issues, PRs, stars, and other metadata, as @aaronliu0130 pointed out. That’s not ideal since cpplint has a lot of history you’d want to keep.

Instead of detaching, you can change the default PR.
It’s a practical workaround that directly addresses the problem while preserving everything valuable in the repo. Plus, it’s something GitHub has done for other projects when forks outgrow their parent—like when a fork becomes more active or diverges significantly, which seems to fit cpplint’s situation.

[cclauss]

How do we "change the default PR"?

[MegaMind1212]

Hey @cclauss, sorry I just realized I sort of circled back to the same discussion when I mentioned changing the default PR target, I meant making cpplint/cpplint the "base repository" in the fork network so PRs default to your repo instead of google/styleguide. I believe this can be done by contacting GitHub Support (https://support.github.com/contact), explain that cpplint/cpplint (with 300k+ downloads a month) has diverged significantly and should be the new base of the fork network, and they can reassign it for you. This keeps all your issues, PRs, and history intact while solving the PR target issue. Let me know if that sounds feasible .

[cclauss]

OK. I have contacted GitHub Support and with their virtual assistant, I was able to discover that there are two options:

1. Detach fork: Has all the destructive characteristics we want to avoid as discussed above.
2. Extract fork: Move the fork and all its subforks into a new network. This repository becomes the new root. All issues, pull requests, stars, etc. remain in the new network.

I created GitHub Support ticket to Extract cpplint/cpplint from google/styleguide.

[MegaMind1212]

extracting the fork is definitely the right move—it’ll make cpplint/cpplint the new root, so PRs will default to your repo, and you won’t lose any history. Once Support finishes, just check that PRs are targeting cpplint/cpplint and maybe update the README to let everyone know about the change. hope it helped have a great time..

[cclauss]

It is done! https://github.com/cpplint/cpplint