Linus Torvalds needed a version control system to handle the Linux kernel's size and complexity, as well as the enormous number of people working on it.  No existing program fit his needs, so he created a new one, Git.  Git has proven to be a game-changing technology, giving developers enormous flexibility to commit, undo, share, and experiment with their code.  Git makes branching and merging trivially easy, especially when compared with systems such as Subversion and CVS.  It also makes it possible to work when you aren't connected to the Internet, without losing the ability to synchronize and merge commits with other users.  And of course, the fact that it is distributed means that there isn't a single point of failure, and that every developer has a complete history of the project.

In this lecture, I will provide an overview of Git, as well as introduce some of its more compelling features, for open-source developers as well as their managers who want to boost productivity and flexibility.  I will describe the ways in which various organizations use Git, and how it can be an effective tool in your organization's software toolbox.