Q:

Forked a repo on github but make changes just for me

I forked a repository (blog theme) on github, I want to make some changes to it and use it as my site, but I don't want to push those changes to the genuine repo, since the creator probably will not be interested, is that OK?, I mean will this brake any rules?, of course in my readme file I will give credits to the owner etc.
Should I just fork it or is better to clone it locally and then push it on Github as my own project, with credits to the legal owner.
Thank you

A:

Unless they added you as a Collaborator on their repo, you wouldn't be able to push changes to the original (although you could submit Pull Requests).
It's probably more of an "informal rule" that you should fork, but you wouldn't be breaking any rules if you just made a new repo - unless you were violating the license or copyright of the original work.
A benefit of forking would be that you can more easily incorporate future changes to the original author's theme back into your fork (ex. if they fix something that you didn't notice was broken, future new standards compatibility, etc.)
Other benefits of forking include: let the original author know that their work really was useful to someone and let others see that it has been forked, thus validating the usefulness of the work if they're considering using the original work, etc.
So, while the original author might not be interested in your work specifically, there are benefits to you and the community to forking.

