Not to be confused with clone (computing) or fork (software development).
Software remastering is software development that recreates system software and applications while incorporating customizations, with the intent that it is copied and run elsewhere for "off-label" usage. The term comes from remastering in media production, where it is similarly distinguished from mere copying.
If the codebase does not continue to parallel an ongoing, upstream software development, then it is a fork, not a remastered version. If a codebase replicates the behaviour of the original but does not derive from the original codebase then it is a clone.
Common examples of software remastering include Linux and Unix-like distributions, and video games. Remastered Linux, BSD and OpenSolaris operating system distributions are common because they are not copy protected, but also because of the allowance of such operating systems to grow an application for taking a snapshot of itself, and of installing that onto bootable media such as a thumb drive or a virtual machine in a hypervisor. Since 2001 over 1000 computer operating systems have arisen for download from the Internet.[1] A global community of Linux providers pushes the practice of remastering by developer switching, project overtaking or merging, and by sharing over the Internet.[2] Most distributions start as a remastered version of another distribution as evidenced by the announcements made at DistroWatch.[3] Notably, remastering SLS Linux forked Slackware, remastering Red Hat Linux helped fork Yellow Dog Linux and Mandriva and TurboLinux, and by remastering a Debian distribution, Ubuntu was started, which is itself remastered by the Linux Mint team.[2] These might involve critical system software, but the extent of the customizations made in remastering can be as trivial as a change in a default setting of the distribution and subsequent provision to an acquaintance on installation media. When a remastered version becomes public it becomes a distribution.[4]
Microsoft Windows has also been modified and remastered. Various utilities exist that combine Windows updates and device drivers with the original Windows CD/DVD installation media, a process known as slipstreaming.
When remastering a distro, remastering software can be applied from the "inside" of a live operating system to clone itself into an installation package. Remastering does not necessarily require the remastering software, which only facilitates the process. For example, an application is remastered just by acquiring, modifying and recompiling its original source code. Many video games have been modded by upgrading them with additional content, levels, or features. Notably, Counter-Strike was remastered from Half-Life and went on to be marketed as a commercial product.
^Bodnar, Ladislav. "Home page". DistroWatch. Unsigned Integer Limited. Retrieved 28 April 2014. To verify the numbers choose a weekly report and search for "database summary" in it.
^ ab"Linux Distribution Timeline". GitHub. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
^"DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD". distrowatch.com.
^Sentex, Rob. "Selecting a Linux Distribution". Beginner Tutorials. Lin. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
and 24 Related for: Software remastering information
package. Remastering does not necessarily require the remasteringsoftware, which only facilitates the process. For example, an application is remastered just...
previously existing recording. Remastering may also refer to: Softwareremastering, the process of customizing a software or operating system distribution...
following is a list of remastering and slipstreaming software articles on Wikipedia: -*Not fully supported. Comparison of disk cloning software "Remaster Tools"...
product is said to be remastered. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. In a wider sense, remastering a product may involve...
(2018), and Cold War (2020) were made, the latter in conjunction with Raven Software. Sledgehammer Games, who were co-developers for Modern Warfare 3, have...
FromSoftware, Inc. is a Japanese video game development and publishing company. It was founded by Naotoshi Zin in Tokyo on November 1, 1986. Initially...
Gearbox Software is an American video game development company based in Frisco, Texas. It was established as a limited liability company in February 1999...
Duty 4: Modern Warfare, titled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered. In 2020, Raven Software collaborated with Infinity Ward on the game Call of Duty:...
Unity Linux Live CD Live CD Softwareremastering Remastersys, a similar tool (for Debian/Ubuntu) List of remasteringsoftware mklivecd source code mklivecd...
of Kharak (2016). Gearbox Software purchased the rights to the series from then-owners THQ in 2013, and released a remastered collection of Homeworld and...
Souls is a dark fantasy action role-playing game series developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It began with the release...
Realms' "Realms Deep 2020" event in September 2020, Apogee Software, LLC announced remastered editions of the original Rise of the Triad (co-published by...
Revolution Software Limited is a British video game developer based in York, founded in 1989 by Charles Cecil, Tony Warriner, David Sykes, and Noirin Carmody...
Naughty Dog, LLC (formerly JAM Software, Inc.) is an American first-party video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin...
Raven Software is an American video game developer based in Madison, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1990 by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel after getting...
Nixxes Software B.V. is a Dutch video game developer based in Utrecht. It was founded by former demoscene developer Jurjen Katsman in 1999 to port the...
The PlayStation 4 system software is the updatable firmware and operating system of the PlayStation 4. The operating system is Orbis OS, based on FreeBSD...
team focused on updating and remastering some of their older titles, with an initially announced focus on StarCraft: Remastered (2017), Warcraft III: Reforged...
id Software is an American video game developer based in Richardson, Texas. It was founded in February 1991 by four members of the software company Softdisk:...
Nerve Software, LLC was an American video game developer that was co-founded by ex-id Software employee Brandon James. Many of the original employees at...
original on June 27, 2015. Retrieved March 7, 2015. "Top 20 Entertainment Software (All Prices), Week Ending 15 June 2013". Chart-Track. Archived from the...
titles. A high-definition remaster under the title The Alliance Alive HD Remastered for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch was released in October 2019. This...
Jackson Baseball, respectively. In 1989, the company debuted its Spotlight Software label in order to release foreign titles for the American market, most...