BitKeeper has been the exclusive tool for Linux kernel development for the past three years. The version Linux programmers used was free, but there was a “premium” version sold by BitKeeper creator BitMover for commercial interests. Both programs are the property of BitMover and could only be used providing they were not utilized for the creation of competing products.
The adoption of BitKeeper was long a source of contention within the open source community, which advocates the free and unimpeded dissemination of software. BitKeepers’ non-compete caveat, many said, was at odds with the open source ethic.
The situation escalated when BitMover president Larry McVoy publicly condemned the development of SourcePuller, a BitKeeper-compatible product being created by Torvalds’ Open Source Development Labs.
Torvalds, McVoy and SourcePuller lead developer Andrew Tridgell became embroiled in an uncharacteristic flame war over the nature of “free” software, until Torvalds announced the adoption of Git, an older product with no reliance on or compatibility with BitKeeper.
Torvalds doesn’t expect that Git will be widely adopted beyond its specific use developing Linux. It lacks certain functionality that made BitKeeper attractive, even for the philosophical flaws BitKeeper’s use represented in the Open Source world.
Torvalds admitted that Git has its downside as a source code management system, but Linux once again has a means of automating updates and tracking changes to its thousands of lines of code. Like Linux, Git is covered by the General Public License (GPL) agreement, often called the Constitution of the open source movement.
