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Git Made Crystal Clear · chapter 2: What Git Is, and Why It Won

Centralized vs distributed

2026-08-27

Older centralized systems keep the one true repository on a server. Your working copy is a thin checkout, and to commit, branch, or read history you generally need the server. In Git, every peer holds a full repository. You commit locally, branch locally, and read the entire history locally; syncing with others is a separate, explicit step.

Figure 2.2: Centralized vs distributed. A central server hands out thin checkouts and mediates every commit; in Git each clone is a complete repository, so work happens locally and syncing is a separate, explicit step.
Figure 2.2: Centralized vs distributed. A central server hands out thin checkouts and mediates every commit; in Git each clone is a complete repository, so work happens locally and syncing is a separate, explicit step.

This diagram is one of many in Git Made Crystal Clear.

Every chapter opens with the gist, draws the hard ideas, and ends with recipes and sources.

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