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Christian Couder d460267613 Add 'promisor-remote' capability to protocol v2
When a server S knows that some objects from a repository are available
from a promisor remote X, S might want to suggest to a client C cloning
or fetching the repo from S that C may use X directly instead of S for
these objects.

Note that this could happen both in the case S itself doesn't have the
objects and borrows them from X, and in the case S has the objects but
knows that X is better connected to the world (e.g., it is in a
$LARGEINTERNETCOMPANY datacenter with petabit/s backbone connections)
than S. Implementation of the latter case, which would require S to
omit in its response the objects available on X, is left for future
improvement though.

Then C might or might not, want to get the objects from X. If S and C
can agree on C using X directly, S can then omit objects that can be
obtained from X when answering C's request.

To allow S and C to agree and let each other know about C using X or
not, let's introduce a new "promisor-remote" capability in the
protocol v2, as well as a few new configuration variables:

  - "promisor.advertise" on the server side, and:
  - "promisor.acceptFromServer" on the client side.

By default, or if "promisor.advertise" is set to 'false', a server S will
not advertise the "promisor-remote" capability.

If S doesn't advertise the "promisor-remote" capability, then a client C
replying to S shouldn't advertise the "promisor-remote" capability
either.

If "promisor.advertise" is set to 'true', S will advertise its promisor
remotes with a string like:

  promisor-remote=<pr-info>[;<pr-info>]...

where each <pr-info> element contains information about a single
promisor remote in the form:

  name=<pr-name>[,url=<pr-url>]

where <pr-name> is the urlencoded name of a promisor remote and
<pr-url> is the urlencoded URL of the promisor remote named <pr-name>.

For now, the URL is passed in addition to the name. In the future, it
might be possible to pass other information like a filter-spec that the
client may use when cloning from S, or a token that the client may use
when retrieving objects from X.

It is C's responsibility to arrange how it can reach X though, so pieces
of information that are usually outside Git's concern, like proxy
configuration, must not be distributed over this protocol.

It might also be possible in the future for "promisor.advertise" to have
other values. For example a value like "onlyName" could prevent S from
advertising URLs, which could help in case C should use a different URL
for X than the URL S is using. (The URL S is using might be an internal
one on the server side for example.)

By default or if "promisor.acceptFromServer" is set to "None", C will
not accept to use the promisor remotes that might have been advertised
by S. In this case, C will not advertise any "promisor-remote"
capability in its reply to S.

If "promisor.acceptFromServer" is set to "All" and S advertised some
promisor remotes, then on the contrary, C will accept to use all the
promisor remotes that S advertised and C will reply with a string like:

  promisor-remote=<pr-name>[;<pr-name>]...

where the <pr-name> elements are the urlencoded names of all the
promisor remotes S advertised.

In a following commit, other values for "promisor.acceptFromServer" will
be implemented, so that C will be able to decide the promisor remotes it
accepts depending on the name and URL it received from S. So even if
that name and URL information is not used much right now, it will be
needed soon.

Helped-by: Taylor Blau <me@ttaylorr.com>
Helped-by: Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>
Signed-off-by: Christian Couder <chriscool@tuxfamily.org>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
2025-02-18 11:05:37 -08:00
.github Merge branch 'jk/ci-coverity-update' 2025-02-10 10:18:31 -08:00
Documentation Add 'promisor-remote' capability to protocol v2 2025-02-18 11:05:37 -08:00
bin-wrappers
block-sha1
builtin Merge branch 'bf/fetch-set-head-fix' 2025-02-14 17:53:48 -08:00
ci Merge branch 'ps/zlib-ng' 2025-02-06 14:56:45 -08:00
compat Merge branch 'ps/zlib-ng' 2025-02-06 14:56:45 -08:00
contrib Merge branch 'js/libgit-rust' 2025-02-12 10:08:53 -08:00
ewah
git-gui Merge branch 'master' of https://github.com/j6t/git-gui 2025-01-06 06:51:37 -08:00
gitk-git Merge branch 'master' of https://github.com/j6t/gitk 2025-01-06 06:52:05 -08:00
gitweb
mergetools
negotiator
oss-fuzz Merge branch 'ps/build-meson-fixes' 2025-02-03 10:23:34 -08:00
perl meson: fix perl dependencies 2025-01-08 08:05:39 -08:00
po Merge branch '2.48-uk-update' of github.com:arkid15r/git-ukrainian-l10n 2025-01-07 15:45:43 +08:00
refs Merge branch 'kn/reflog-migration-fix-followup' 2025-02-14 17:53:48 -08:00
reftable Merge branch 'kn/reflog-migration-fix-followup' 2025-02-14 17:53:48 -08:00
sha1
sha1collisiondetection@855827c583
sha1dc
sha256
subprojects
t Add 'promisor-remote' capability to protocol v2 2025-02-18 11:05:37 -08:00
templates
trace2 global: adapt callers to use generic hash context helpers 2025-01-31 10:06:11 -08:00
xdiff
.cirrus.yml
.clang-format
.editorconfig editorconfig: add .adoc extension 2025-01-21 12:56:05 -08:00
.gitattributes Remove obsolete ".txt" extensions for AsciiDoc files 2025-01-21 12:56:10 -08:00
.gitignore libgit: add higher-level libgit crate 2025-01-29 15:06:50 -08:00
.gitlab-ci.yml Merge branch 'jt/gitlab-ci-base-fix' 2025-02-10 10:18:30 -08:00
.gitmodules
.mailmap
.tsan-suppressions
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
COPYING
GIT-BUILD-OPTIONS.in Merge branch 'ps/3.0-remote-deprecation' 2025-02-03 10:23:33 -08:00
GIT-VERSION-FILE.in
GIT-VERSION-GEN Merge branch 'ps/build-meson-fixes' 2025-02-03 10:23:34 -08:00
INSTALL
LGPL-2.1
Makefile Merge branch 'bc/doc-adoc-not-txt' 2025-02-14 17:53:47 -08:00
README.md
RelNotes doc: use .adoc extension for AsciiDoc files 2025-01-21 12:56:06 -08:00
SECURITY.md
abspath.c
abspath.h
aclocal.m4
add-interactive.c
add-interactive.h
add-patch.c
advice.c
advice.h
alias.c
alias.h
alloc.c
alloc.h
apply.c Merge branch 'pw/apply-ulong-overflow-check' 2025-02-10 10:18:30 -08:00
apply.h
archive-tar.c compat/zlib: provide stubs for `deflateSetHeader()` 2025-01-28 13:03:23 -08:00
archive-zip.c
archive.c git-compat-util: move include of "compat/zlib.h" into "git-zlib.h" 2025-01-28 13:03:22 -08:00
archive.h
attr.c
attr.h
banned.h
base85.c
base85.h
bisect.c commit-reach: use `size_t` to track indices when computing merge bases 2024-12-27 08:12:40 -08:00
bisect.h
blame.c
blame.h
blob.c
blob.h
bloom.c
bloom.h
branch.c
branch.h
builtin.h
bulk-checkin.c Merge branch 'ps/hash-cleanup' 2025-02-10 10:18:31 -08:00
bulk-checkin.h
bundle-uri.c
bundle-uri.h
bundle.c bundle: avoid closing file descriptor twice 2025-01-25 18:38:11 -08:00
bundle.h bundle: avoid closing file descriptor twice 2025-01-25 18:38:11 -08:00
cache-tree.c
cache-tree.h
cbtree.c
cbtree.h
chdir-notify.c
chdir-notify.h
check-builtins.sh
checkout.c
checkout.h
chunk-format.c
chunk-format.h
color.c
color.h
column.c
column.h
combine-diff.c tree-diff: drop list-tail argument to diff_tree_paths() 2025-01-09 12:24:26 -08:00
command-list.txt
commit-graph.c
commit-graph.h
commit-reach.c commit-reach: use `size_t` to track indices when computing merge bases 2024-12-27 08:12:40 -08:00
commit-reach.h commit-reach: use `size_t` to track indices when computing merge bases 2024-12-27 08:12:40 -08:00
commit-slab-decl.h
commit-slab-impl.h
commit-slab.h
commit.c commit-reach: use `size_t` to track indices in `get_reachable_subset()` 2024-12-27 08:11:45 -08:00
commit.h commit-reach: use `size_t` to track indices in `get_reachable_subset()` 2024-12-27 08:11:45 -08:00
common-exit.c common-main: split init and exit code into new files 2025-01-28 14:39:16 -08:00
common-init.c common-main: split init and exit code into new files 2025-01-28 14:39:16 -08:00
common-init.h common-main: split init and exit code into new files 2025-01-28 14:39:16 -08:00
common-main.c common-main: split init and exit code into new files 2025-01-28 14:39:16 -08:00
config.c git-compat-util: move include of "compat/zlib.h" into "git-zlib.h" 2025-01-28 13:03:22 -08:00
config.h
config.mak.dev
config.mak.in
config.mak.uname
configure.ac
connect.c Add 'promisor-remote' capability to protocol v2 2025-02-18 11:05:37 -08:00
connect.h
connected.c
connected.h
convert.c
convert.h
copy.c
copy.h
credential.c Merge branch 'ps/the-repository' 2025-01-21 08:44:54 -08:00
credential.h Merge branch 'ps/the-repository' 2025-01-21 08:44:54 -08:00
csum-file.c Merge branch 'ps/hash-cleanup' 2025-02-10 10:18:31 -08:00
csum-file.h hash: stop typedeffing the hash context 2025-01-31 10:06:10 -08:00
ctype.c
daemon.c
date.c date.c: Fix type missmatch warings from msvc 2024-12-26 13:34:28 -08:00
date.h
decorate.c
decorate.h
delta-islands.c
delta-islands.h
delta.h
detect-compiler
diagnose.c
diagnose.h
diff-delta.c
diff-lib.c run_diff_files(): de-mystify the size of combine_diff_path struct 2025-01-09 12:24:24 -08:00
diff-merges.c
diff-merges.h
diff-no-index.c
diff.c global: adapt callers to use generic hash context helpers 2025-01-31 10:06:11 -08:00
diff.h Merge branch 'ps/hash-cleanup' 2025-02-10 10:18:31 -08:00
diffcore-break.c
diffcore-delta.c
diffcore-order.c
diffcore-pickaxe.c
diffcore-rename.c
diffcore-rotate.c
diffcore.h
dir-iterator.c
dir-iterator.h
dir.c
dir.h
editor.c
editor.h
entry.c
entry.h
environment.c git-compat-util: move include of "compat/zlib.h" into "git-zlib.h" 2025-01-28 13:03:22 -08:00
environment.h
exec-cmd.c
exec-cmd.h
fetch-negotiator.c
fetch-negotiator.h
fetch-pack.c Merge branch 'kn/pack-write-with-reduced-globals' 2025-02-03 10:23:34 -08:00
fetch-pack.h
fmt-merge-msg.c
fmt-merge-msg.h
fsck.c fsck: reject misconfigured fsck.skipList 2025-01-07 09:22:25 -08:00
fsck.h
fsmonitor--daemon.h
fsmonitor-ipc.c
fsmonitor-ipc.h
fsmonitor-ll.h
fsmonitor-path-utils.h
fsmonitor-settings.c
fsmonitor-settings.h
fsmonitor.c
fsmonitor.h
generate-cmdlist.sh doc: use .adoc extension for AsciiDoc files 2025-01-21 12:56:06 -08:00
generate-configlist.sh doc: use .adoc extension for AsciiDoc files 2025-01-21 12:56:06 -08:00
generate-hooklist.sh doc: use .adoc extension for AsciiDoc files 2025-01-21 12:56:06 -08:00
generate-perl.sh
generate-python.sh
generate-script.sh
gettext.c
gettext.h
git-archimport.perl
git-compat-util.h Merge branch 'ps/zlib-ng' 2025-02-06 14:56:45 -08:00
git-curl-compat.h
git-cvsexportcommit.perl
git-cvsimport.perl
git-cvsserver.perl
git-difftool--helper.sh
git-filter-branch.sh
git-instaweb.sh instaweb: fix ip binding for the python http.server 2025-01-10 15:27:52 -08:00
git-merge-octopus.sh
git-merge-one-file.sh
git-merge-resolve.sh
git-mergetool--lib.sh
git-mergetool.sh
git-p4.py
git-quiltimport.sh
git-request-pull.sh
git-send-email.perl
git-sh-i18n.sh
git-sh-setup.sh
git-submodule.sh
git-svn.perl
git-web--browse.sh
git-zlib.c git-zlib: cast away potential constness of `next_in` pointer 2025-01-28 13:03:23 -08:00
git-zlib.h git-compat-util: move include of "compat/zlib.h" into "git-zlib.h" 2025-01-28 13:03:22 -08:00
git.c Merge branch 'ps/3.0-remote-deprecation' 2025-02-03 10:23:33 -08:00
git.rc.in
gpg-interface.c
gpg-interface.h
graph.c
graph.h
grep.c
grep.h
hash-lookup.c
hash-lookup.h
hash.h hash: provide generic wrappers to update hash contexts 2025-01-31 10:06:11 -08:00
hashmap.c
hashmap.h
help.c help: add "show" as a valid configuration value 2025-02-03 15:22:05 -08:00
help.h
hex-ll.c
hex-ll.h
hex.c
hex.h
hook.c
hook.h
http-backend.c
http-fetch.c
http-push.c global: adapt callers to use generic hash context helpers 2025-01-31 10:06:11 -08:00
http-walker.c
http.c global: adapt callers to use generic hash context helpers 2025-01-31 10:06:11 -08:00
http.h hash: stop typedeffing the hash context 2025-01-31 10:06:10 -08:00
ident.c
ident.h
imap-send.c
iterator.h
json-writer.c
json-writer.h
khash.h
kwset.c
kwset.h
levenshtein.c
levenshtein.h
line-log.c
line-log.h
line-range.c
line-range.h
linear-assignment.c
linear-assignment.h
list-objects-filter-options.c
list-objects-filter-options.h
list-objects-filter.c
list-objects-filter.h
list-objects.c
list-objects.h
list.h
lockfile.c
lockfile.h
log-tree.c
log-tree.h
loose.c
loose.h
ls-refs.c
ls-refs.h
mailinfo.c
mailinfo.h
mailmap.c
mailmap.h
match-trees.c
match-trees.h
mem-pool.c
mem-pool.h
merge-blobs.c
merge-blobs.h
merge-ll.c
merge-ll.h
merge-ort-wrappers.c
merge-ort-wrappers.h
merge-ort.c
merge-ort.h
merge-recursive.c
merge-recursive.h
merge.c
merge.h
mergesort.h
meson.build Merge branch 'bc/doc-adoc-not-txt' 2025-02-14 17:53:47 -08:00
meson_options.txt Merge branch 'ps/zlib-ng' 2025-02-06 14:56:45 -08:00
midx-write.c Merge branch 'kn/pack-write-with-reduced-globals' 2025-02-03 10:23:34 -08:00
midx.c
midx.h
name-hash.c
name-hash.h
notes-cache.c
notes-cache.h
notes-merge.c
notes-merge.h
notes-utils.c
notes-utils.h
notes.c
notes.h
object-file-convert.c
object-file-convert.h
object-file.c Merge branch 'tb/unsafe-hash-cleanup' 2025-02-03 10:23:32 -08:00
object-file.h
object-name.c object-name: be more strict in parsing describe-like output 2025-01-13 11:48:43 -08:00
object-name.h
object-store-ll.h
object-store.h
object.c
object.h
oid-array.c
oid-array.h
oidmap.c
oidmap.h
oidset.c
oidset.h
oidtree.c
oidtree.h
pack-bitmap-write.c
pack-bitmap.c Merge branch 'ps/the-repository' 2025-01-21 08:44:54 -08:00
pack-bitmap.h
pack-check.c global: adapt callers to use generic hash context helpers 2025-01-31 10:06:11 -08:00
pack-mtimes.c
pack-mtimes.h
pack-objects.c
pack-objects.h Merge branch 'ds/name-hash-tweaks' 2025-02-12 10:08:51 -08:00
pack-revindex.c
pack-revindex.h
pack-write.c Merge branch 'ps/hash-cleanup' 2025-02-10 10:18:31 -08:00
pack.h Merge branch 'kn/pack-write-with-reduced-globals' 2025-02-03 10:23:34 -08:00
packfile.c Merge branch 'jk/pack-header-parse-alignment-fix' 2025-01-28 13:02:23 -08:00
packfile.h Merge branch 'jk/pack-header-parse-alignment-fix' 2025-01-28 13:02:23 -08:00
pager.c
pager.h
parallel-checkout.c
parallel-checkout.h
parse-options-cb.c
parse-options.c Merge branch 'jc/show-usage-help' 2025-01-28 13:02:22 -08:00
parse-options.h parse-options: introduce die_for_incompatible_opt2() 2025-02-06 12:23:54 -08:00
parse.c
parse.h
patch-delta.c
patch-ids.c
patch-ids.h
path-walk.c path-walk: drop redundant parse_tree() call 2025-01-22 17:52:44 -08:00
path-walk.h
path.c
path.h
pathspec.c
pathspec.h
pkt-line.c
pkt-line.h
preload-index.c
preload-index.h
pretty.c
pretty.h
prio-queue.c
prio-queue.h prio-queue: fix type of `insertion_ctr` 2024-12-27 08:10:41 -08:00
progress.c
progress.h
promisor-remote.c Add 'promisor-remote' capability to protocol v2 2025-02-18 11:05:37 -08:00
promisor-remote.h Add 'promisor-remote' capability to protocol v2 2025-02-18 11:05:37 -08:00
prompt.c
prompt.h
protocol-caps.c
protocol-caps.h
protocol.c
protocol.h
prune-packed.c
prune-packed.h
pseudo-merge.c
pseudo-merge.h
quote.c
quote.h
range-diff.c Merge branch 'js/range-diff-diff-merges' 2024-12-23 09:32:17 -08:00
range-diff.h
reachable.c
reachable.h
read-cache-ll.h
read-cache.c global: adapt callers to use generic hash context helpers 2025-01-31 10:06:11 -08:00
read-cache.h
rebase-interactive.c
rebase-interactive.h
rebase.c
rebase.h
ref-filter.c Merge branch 'rs/ref-fitler-used-atoms-value-fix' 2025-01-29 14:05:09 -08:00
ref-filter.h ref-filter: remove ref_format_clear() 2025-01-21 09:06:24 -08:00
reflog-walk.c
reflog-walk.h
reflog.c
reflog.h
refs.c Merge branch 'kn/reflog-migration-fix-followup' 2025-02-14 17:53:48 -08:00
refs.h refs: mark `ref_transaction_update_reflog()` as static 2025-01-22 09:51:35 -08:00
refspec.c Merge branch 'ms/remote-valid-remote-name' 2025-02-12 10:08:54 -08:00
refspec.h Merge branch 'ms/remote-valid-remote-name' 2025-02-12 10:08:54 -08:00
remote-curl.c
remote.c Merge branch 'tc/clone-single-revision' 2025-02-14 17:53:48 -08:00
remote.h Merge branch 'tc/clone-single-revision' 2025-02-14 17:53:48 -08:00
replace-object.c
replace-object.h
repo-settings.c
repo-settings.h
repository.c
repository.h
rerere.c global: adapt callers to use generic hash context helpers 2025-01-31 10:06:11 -08:00
rerere.h
reset.c
reset.h
resolve-undo.c
resolve-undo.h
revision.c
revision.h
run-command.c
run-command.h
sane-ctype.h
scalar.c Merge branch 'ps/leakfixes-0129' 2025-02-06 14:56:45 -08:00
send-pack.c
send-pack.h
sequencer.c
sequencer.h
serve.c Add 'promisor-remote' capability to protocol v2 2025-02-18 11:05:37 -08:00
serve.h
server-info.c
server-info.h
setup.c setup: fix reinit of repos with incompatible GIT_DEFAULT_HASH 2025-01-30 14:36:41 -08:00
setup.h
sh-i18n--envsubst.c
sha1dc_git.c
sha1dc_git.h
shallow.c sign-compare: avoid comparing ptrdiff with an int/unsigned 2024-12-27 12:25:30 -08:00
shallow.h shallow: fix -Wsign-compare warnings 2024-12-27 08:12:40 -08:00
shared.mak
shell.c
shortlog.h
sideband.c
sideband.h
sigchain.c
sigchain.h
simple-ipc.h
sparse-index.c
sparse-index.h
split-index.c
split-index.h
stable-qsort.c
statinfo.c
statinfo.h
strbuf.c Git 2.47.2 2025-01-13 12:55:26 -08:00
strbuf.h Git 2.47.2 2025-01-13 12:55:26 -08:00
streaming.c
streaming.h
string-list.c
string-list.h
strmap.c
strmap.h
strvec.c
strvec.h
sub-process.c
sub-process.h
submodule-config.c
submodule-config.h
submodule.c Merge branch 'sk/calloc-not-malloc-plus-memset' 2024-12-23 09:32:18 -08:00
submodule.h
symlinks.c
symlinks.h
tag.c
tag.h
tar.h
tempfile.c
tempfile.h
thread-utils.c
thread-utils.h Revert barrier-based LSan threading race workaround 2025-01-01 14:13:01 -08:00
tmp-objdir.c
tmp-objdir.h
trace.c
trace.h
trace2.c Merge branch 'am/trace2-with-valueless-true' 2025-01-29 14:05:10 -08:00
trace2.h
trailer.c
trailer.h
transport-helper.c
transport-internal.h
transport.c Merge branch 'js/bundle-unbundle-fd-reuse-fix' 2025-02-06 14:56:44 -08:00
transport.h
tree-diff.c tree-diff: make list tail-passing more explicit 2025-01-09 12:24:27 -08:00
tree-walk.c
tree-walk.h
tree.c
tree.h
unicode-width.h
unimplemented.sh
unix-socket.c Merge branch 'ps/leakfixes-0129' 2025-02-06 14:56:45 -08:00
unix-socket.h
unix-stream-server.c
unix-stream-server.h
unpack-trees.c
unpack-trees.h
upload-pack.c Add 'promisor-remote' capability to protocol v2 2025-02-18 11:05:37 -08:00
upload-pack.h
url.c
url.h
urlmatch.c
urlmatch.h
usage.c usage: add show_usage_if_asked() 2025-01-17 13:30:02 -08:00
userdiff.c
userdiff.h
utf8.c
utf8.h
varint.c
varint.h
version-def.h.in
version.c meson: ensure correct version-def.h is used 2025-01-14 11:14:54 -08:00
version.h
versioncmp.c
versioncmp.h
walker.c
walker.h
wildmatch.c
wildmatch.h
worktree.c worktree: detect from secondary worktree if main worktree is bare 2025-02-05 09:46:23 -08:00
worktree.h
wrapper.c wrapper: allow generating insecure random bytes 2025-01-07 09:04:18 -08:00
wrapper.h wrapper: allow generating insecure random bytes 2025-01-07 09:04:18 -08:00
write-or-die.c
write-or-die.h
ws.c
ws.h
wt-status.c
wt-status.h
xdiff-interface.c
xdiff-interface.h

README.md

Build status

Git - fast, scalable, distributed revision control system

Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations and full access to internals.

Git is an Open Source project covered by the GNU General Public License version 2 (some parts of it are under different licenses, compatible with the GPLv2). It was originally written by Linus Torvalds with help of a group of hackers around the net.

Please read the file INSTALL for installation instructions.

Many Git online resources are accessible from https://git-scm.com/ including full documentation and Git related tools.

See Documentation/gittutorial.txt to get started, then see Documentation/giteveryday.txt for a useful minimum set of commands, and Documentation/git-<commandname>.txt for documentation of each command. If git has been correctly installed, then the tutorial can also be read with man gittutorial or git help tutorial, and the documentation of each command with man git-<commandname> or git help <commandname>.

CVS users may also want to read Documentation/gitcvs-migration.txt (man gitcvs-migration or git help cvs-migration if git is installed).

The user discussion and development of Git take place on the Git mailing list -- everyone is welcome to post bug reports, feature requests, comments and patches to git@vger.kernel.org (read Documentation/SubmittingPatches for instructions on patch submission and Documentation/CodingGuidelines).

Those wishing to help with error message, usage and informational message string translations (localization l10) should see po/README.md (a po file is a Portable Object file that holds the translations).

To subscribe to the list, send an email to git+subscribe@vger.kernel.org (see https://subspace.kernel.org/subscribing.html for details). The mailing list archives are available at https://lore.kernel.org/git/, https://marc.info/?l=git and other archival sites.

Issues which are security relevant should be disclosed privately to the Git Security mailing list git-security@googlegroups.com.

The maintainer frequently sends the "What's cooking" reports that list the current status of various development topics to the mailing list. The discussion following them give a good reference for project status, development direction and remaining tasks.

The name "git" was given by Linus Torvalds when he wrote the very first version. He described the tool as "the stupid content tracker" and the name as (depending on your mood):

  • random three-letter combination that is pronounceable, and not actually used by any common UNIX command. The fact that it is a mispronunciation of "get" may or may not be relevant.
  • stupid. contemptible and despicable. simple. Take your pick from the dictionary of slang.
  • "global information tracker": you're in a good mood, and it actually works for you. Angels sing, and a light suddenly fills the room.
  • "goddamn idiotic truckload of sh*t": when it breaks