c371d4b4f0
BusyBox comes with a ton of applets ("applet" being the identical
concept to Git's "builtins"). And similar to Git's builtins, the applets
can be called via `busybox <command>`, or the BusyBox executable can be
copied/hard-linked to the command name.
The similarities do not end here. Just as with Git's builtins, it is
problematic that BusyBox' hard-linked applets cannot easily be put into
a .zip file: .zip archives have no concept of hard-links and therefore
would store identical copies (and also extract identical copies,
"inflating" the archive unnecessarily).
To counteract that issue, MinGit already ships without hard-linked
copies of the builtins, and the plan is to do the same with BusyBox'
applets: simply ship busybox.exe as single executable, without
hard-linked applets.
To accommodate that, Git is being taught by this commit a very special
trick, exploiting the fact that it is possible to call an executable
with a command-line whose argv[0] is different from the executable's
name: when `sh` is to be spawned, and no `sh` is found in the PATH, but
busybox.exe is, use that executable (with unchanged argv).
Likewise, if any executable to be spawned is not on the PATH, but
busybox.exe is found, parse the output of `busybox.exe --help` to find
out what applets are included, and if the command matches an included
applet name, use busybox.exe to execute it.
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 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-.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 https://public-inbox.org/git/, http://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