Git Re-Invented the Wheel

sarupbanskota.com

6 points·thellimist··3 comments

"Torvalds: I really never wanted to do source control management at all and felt that it was just about the least interesting thing in the computing world."

I love how this story underlines the 'just do it' attitude. Git wasn't born from a grand plan but from an immediate need and a pragmatic approach. Sometimes, that's all it takes to start something revolutionary.

Nice article -- it's amazing that BitKeeper's downfall led to the growth of not just one but two amazing distributed VCSes (Git and Mercurial). I wonder if anybody has some insight (it's probably out there) on why Git and Mercurial developed as two separate projects, given their goals while starting out were mostly aligned.

I found this nugget from Wikipedia [0] quite funny.

> In an answer on the Mercurial mailing list, Olivia Mackall explained how the name "Mercurial" was chosen:

> Shortly before the first release, I read an article about the ongoing Bitkeeper debacle that described Larry McVoy as mercurial (in the sense of 'fickle'). Given the multiple meanings, the convenient abbreviation, and the good fit with my pre-existing naming scheme (see my email address), it clicked instantly. Mercurial is thus named in Larry's honor. I do not know if the same is true of Git.

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercurial

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