World 0: Start Here

Where Git came from

You will learn: who made Git, when, and why.

The problem

Thousands of people build Linux together. In 2005, they lost their free version control tool. What now?

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Linus Torvalds made Linux. So in April 2005, he started writing a new tool himself. He called it Git.

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Tap each point on the timeline.

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Why the name Git? In British slang, a “git” is an annoying person. Linus joked that he names his projects after himself.

Predict

Did GitHub make Git?

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Put these in time order. Oldest at the top.

Oldest at the top. Put these in order. Use the arrows, or drag.

GitHub opens
Junio Hamano takes over
Git is born
Git 2.56
Git 3.0

You did it!

You can now tell the story of where Git came from.

Go deeper (optional)

Before 2005, the Linux team used a tool called BitKeeper. Its free licence ended, so Linus built Git instead. He wanted Git to be fast. He also wanted it to work without one central server.