Why Git?

The story of Git begins with the developmental challenges of the Linux kernel project in the early 2000s. This period saw Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, facing a dilemma with the existing version control tools. The limitations and restrictions of the proprietary DVCS, BitKeeper, used by the Linux community at that time, led to the need for a new system. This spurred the creation of Git in 2005, marking a significant turn in the version control system landscape.

Git was designed with specific goals in mind, drawing from the lessons learned during the use of BitKeeper. Key among these were speed, simple design, and robust support for non-linear development. The system was tailored to handle large projects such as the Linux kernel efficiently both in terms of speed and data size. This focus on efficiency and flexibility was crucial given the scale and complexity of such projects.

The structure of Git is unique and effective. It is a distributed version control system...