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Git started out as a bunch of separate commands, in the true Unix spirit. Over time, more and more functionality was shared between the different Git commands, though, so it made sense to introduce the notion of "builtins": programs that are actually integrated into the main Git executable. These builtins can be called in two ways: either by specifying a subcommand as the first command-line argument, or -- for backwards compatibility -- by calling the Git executable hardlinked to a filename of the form "git-<subcommand>". Example: the "log" command can be called via "git log <parameters>" or via "git-log <parameters>". The latter form is actually deprecated and only supported for scripts; calling "git-log" interactively will not even work by default because the libexec/git-core/ directory is not in the PATH. All of this is well and groovy as long as hard links are supported. Sadly, this is not the case in general on Windows. So it actually hurts quite a bit when you have to fall back to copying all of git.exe's currently 7.5MB 109 times, just for backwards compatibility. The simple solution would be to install really trivial shell script wrappers in place of the builtins: for builtin in $BUILTINS do rm git-$builtin.exe printf '#!/bin/sh\nexec git %s "$@"\n' $builtin > git-builtin chmod a+x git-builtin done This method would work -- even on Windows because Git for Windows ships a full-fledged Bash. However, the Windows Bash comes at a price: it needs to spin up a full-fledged POSIX emulation layer everytime it starts. Therefore, the shell script solution would incur a significant performance penalty. The best solution the Git for Windows team could come up with is to extend the Git wrapper -- that is needed to call Git from cmd.exe anyway, and that weighs in with a scant 19KB -- to also serve as a drop-in replacement for the builtins so that the following workaround is satisfactory: for builtin in $BUILTINS do cp git-wrapper.exe git-$builtin.exe done This commit allows for this, by extending the module file parsing to turn builtin command names like `git-log.exe ...` into calls to the main Git executable: `git.exe log ...`. Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
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 http://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-.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). To subscribe to the list, send an email with just "subscribe git" in the body to majordomo@vger.kernel.org. The mailing list archives are available at http://news.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.git/, http://marc.info/?l=git and other archival sites.
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