The History of Git:
How a Crisis Built the Best Tool
Built in Anger
In 2005, the Linux kernel team lost their license to use BitKeeper (a proprietary tool). Furious and needing a replacement, Linus Torvalds disappeared for a "vacation" and wrote the first version of Git in just 2 weeks.
# In this article
1. The BitKeeper Era (2002-2005)
Before Git, the Linux kernel—the largest open-source project in history—was managed using a surprisingly controversial tool: BitKeeper.
BitKeeper was proprietary (closed source) software, but they gave the Linux community a free license. This rubbed many open-source purists the wrong way, but Linus Torvalds pragmatically used it because it was technically superior to everything else (like CVS or SVN) at the time.
2. The Collapse
In 2005, the fragile peace broke. Andrew Tridgell (creator of Samba) started reverse-engineering BitKeeper's protocols to build a compatible open-source client.
The Reaction
BitMover (the company behind BitKeeper) saw this as a violation of their license. Larry McVoy, the CEO, revoked the free license for all Linux developers.
Suddenly, the world's most important codebase had no version control system.
3. Linus's "Vacation"
Linus Torvalds took a break from the kernel. He looked for alternatives but found nothing that could handle the scale of Linux with the speed he needed.
So he decided to write his own.
- April 3, 2005: Linus starts development.
- April 6, 2005: He announces the project.
- April 7, 2005: Git is self-hosting (looking after its own code).
He built the core of the world's standard version control system in less than a week.
4. Wait, what does "Git" mean?
Linus famously jokes that he names all his projects after himself. "Linux" was named after Linus. So... "Git"?
In British slang, a "git" is an unpleasant, stupid, or incompetent person. The man page originally described it as:
git(1): the stupid content tracker