Fork a Github repo into another repo as part of a larger project

Question

Perhaps I'm missing something here, but I've looked and I want to do something that looks pretty simple, but I've yet to figure out (or find someone who has) how to accomplish it.

I have a project, and I've found a Github repo that contains content I would like to use as part of it.
I want to fork that repo's content into my project (another repo)
I want the connection of the fork to remain in case of changes to the original file (otherwise I would've simply simply copy/pasted at the beginning -- also, I would like the option of issuing pull-requests).

I've tried to simply, git clone https://github.com/dave/repository_of_dave.git (and variations) but then there is still a connection with all of the content from Dave's repo. Is copy/pasting the only way to go here?

And...of course I found the answer as soon as I posted the question. In case anyone bumps into this question, the solution is found through something called 'submodules'. http://git-scm.com/book/en/Git-Tools-Submodules — sos12, Apr 11 '14 at 03:37

score 6 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:52

Submodules are indeed a good fit, as your repo will only record a gitlink (special entry mode 160000) to record the commit of the submodule repo you are using.

Don't forget that this submodule is a git repo of its own, which means:

you can make commits in it (see "true nature of submodules")
you can make it follow the latest commits of branch (see "git submodule update")
you can add remotes to it (like a remote to the original repo you have forked, in order to fetch updates from said original repo, see "What is the difference between origin and upstream in github")

Fork a Github repo into another repo as part of a larger project

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