Git (software)

Git (/ɡɪt/) is a widely used source code management system for software development. It is a distributed revision control system with an emphasis on speed, data integrity, and support for distributed, non-linear workflows. Git was initially designed and developed in 2005 by Linux kernel developers (including Linus Torvalds) for Linux kernel development.

As with most other distributed version control systems, and unlike most client–server systems, every Git working directory is a full-fledged repository with complete history and full version-tracking capabilities, independent of network access or a central server. Like the Linux kernel, Git is free software distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2.

History

Git development began in April 2005, after many developers of the Linux kernel gave up access to BitKeeper, a proprietary source control management (SCM) system that had previously been used to maintain the project. The copyright holder of BitKeeper, Larry McVoy, had withdrawn gratis use of the product after claiming that Andrew Tridgell had reverse-engineered the BitKeeper protocols.