This video, like every video in the course, I guess is completely optional.
But this video in particular, I want to focus on the history of it just for a couple of minutes.
It's kind of fascinating, in my opinion, but it's not super relevant to learning how to use Git.
So no big deal if you skip it.
But let's do it.
Let's talk about the creation of Git.
So there's a very famous developer named Linus Torvalds.
It's probably closer to Linus Torvalds, but the Americanized version is Linus Torvalds.
He is truly a legendary engineer.
He is the creator, the main developer behind Linux, but also Git.
So very prolific, very talented and he's always been very pro open source projects.
Meaning I'm not familiar with the term code bases that are available for others to see and collaborate
on and and tweak and try their own things with instead of hiding code behind some sort of paywall,
making it all secret.
Anyway, at some point he was working on Linux with a team and they were using a different version control
system called Bit Keeper.
This is the Wikipedia page for Git.
So Bit Keeper was a tool that did basically what Git helps you do manage versions.
However, at some point I guess there was a fight, a disagreement, and the owners, the creators of
Bit Keeper did not allow the Linux team to use it for free anymore.
They wanted to charge money.
They, I guess, remove the license.
So this was controversial.
It spurred the creation of a couple of version control systems, including Mercurial.
But for our purposes, what we care about is that Linus was frustrated, he was -- off about that.
He wanted a free version control system that had features that he desired, and at the time nothing
fit that bill.
There were paid services that had those features and they were free ones that just didn't have the features
he wanted.
So he wanted to make something fast and open source.
And that's actually exactly what he did.
He just said, Screw it, I'm going to do it on my own.
And he spent most of April 2005 just writing code to make it himself.
It's a very impressive effort.
So he was unhappy with the existing tools.
He got to work.
He said, I'll do it myself.
And that turned in to Git in just a matter of days.
He had the basic functionality done.
Now that doesn't mean that it's a one man show and that he's in charge of get to this day.
There have been many collaborators.
In fact, he handed over development of Git after I think maybe the first month or two to some other
developers anyway.
But basically he saw a need for a product that didn't exist as a free, open source tool.
He created it himself and now it's a huge hit.
Everyone uses it, right?
15 years later, over 90% of all developers worldwide use Git on a daily basis.
Now, one interesting note is about the naming the name Git in development.
Linus Torvalds referred to it as the stupid content tracker, just as his own personal name.
But eventually he settled on the name Git and according to the official source code for Git, you can
view this online.
There are a couple of explanations for the meaning of the name Git, depending on your mood.
So it's either a random three letter combination that is pronounceable.
It's always good and not actually used by any common Unix command.
The second option the meaning of Git is stupid, contemptible and despicable.
Simple.
Then we have Global Information Tracker.
That's the more corporate cleaned up version.
Git git global information tracker.
That's for when you're in a good mood and it actually works for you.
Angels sing in a light suddenly fills the room and then when things break and it doesn't work, you
can see it is gosh darn idiotic truckload of you know what?
Oh, I always feel like such a goody two shoes in these videos.
I don't want to lead to any angry reviews and commenters, but this isn't the source code, right?
I didn't put this in there myself.
That's in the official source for Git.
So the last note that I think is kind of funny in British slang, it means an unpleasant person.
And Linus Torvalds sarcastically quipped that he actually named it after himself.
He said, I'm an egotistical bastard and I name all the projects after myself.
First Linux Linus.
Now Git joking that he's an unpleasant person or maybe he's a gosh darn idiotic truckload of you know
what?
Okay, so just kind of a fun little bit of history.
It's always amazing when one person goes about trying to solve a problem and they succeed, and then
it just becomes incredibly widely used and widespread.
That's exactly what happened with Git.
It started with one guy hunkered down somewhere.
I mean, incredibly talented developer, right?
It's not just like me or you most likely, but a very talented developer, just taking on existing tools
and trying to improve upon them.
With a free, open source tool that now is everywhere.