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11 Years After Git, BitKeeper Is Open-Sourced (phoronix.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Eleven years after Linus Torvalds developed Git after a falling out with BitKeeper for managing the Linux kernel source code, BitMover Inc has finally decided to open-source the BitKeeper VCS. The latest BitKeeper release has made the code open-source under the terms of the Apache 2.0 license. The community edition code is available from BitKeeper.org. Does BitKeeper now stand a chance against free software systems like Git and SVN?To offer some context, Larry McVoy, the CEO of BitMover -- the company that makes BitKeeper -- offered free BitKeeper licenses to various open source projects -- Linux kernel utilized it as well. However, later, Australian computer programmer Andrew Tridgell reverse engineered BitKeeper protocol in an attempt to make his own client. Torvalds didn't like this practice, and accused Tridgell of "playing dirty tricks with his proprietary source code tool of choice," and as a result, he wrote Git.

3 of 197 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Not Quite as Described by F.Ultra · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ask Netscape

  2. Re:Too late by serviscope_minor · · Score: 3, Funny

    The world has already moved on to Git which is essentially perfect nowadays.

    Want to know how I know you've never used submodules or subtrees?

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  3. Git Interface by Tenebrousedge · · Score: 3, Funny

    Like he said, it's the perfect *NIX source control system...

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    Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.