> Linus et al. invented git specifically to remove BitKeeper's proprietary sword of damocles from hanging over the kernel.
Didn't he invent it after the sword had fallen and the BitKeeper people withdrew their permission to use it? I get the impression Torvalds is fine with proprietary tools if they're significantly better than the free alternatives.
This is correct. He wrote git after the BitKeeper relationship went sour. He was fine with it being proprietary software. BitKeeper only became a problem for Linus after the BitKeeper developer took away free licenses for Linux kernel developers, after getting into a kerfluffle with (I believe) Jeremy Allison over the terms of that license.
> Didn't he invent it after the sword had fallen and the BitKeeper people withdrew their permission to use it?
Yes, perhaps I should have been more specific that the sword (BitKeeper as gatekeeper) was the problem, rather than the "hanging above" (i.e. the threat rather than the actuality).
Didn't he invent it after the sword had fallen and the BitKeeper people withdrew their permission to use it? I get the impression Torvalds is fine with proprietary tools if they're significantly better than the free alternatives.