Celebrating 20 Years of Git: A Conversation with Creator Linus Torvalds
In April 2025, we commemorate a monumental milestone in the software development world — the 20th anniversary of Git. Introduced in 2005 by Linus Torvalds, Git has revolutionised version control systems and become the cornerstone of modern DevOps, with millions of developers and enterprises relying on it every day to build, collaborate, and innovate faster and more securely.
The GitLab team had the honour of speaking with Linus Torvalds himself to reflect on two decades of Git. Linus recalled how Git was born out of necessity when the Linux kernel community needed a reliable, distributed version control tool after the departure of their previous provider. With innovation at its core, Git was designed to be fast, scalable, and immutable — values that remain fundamental to its architecture today.
Over the years, Git has grown beyond just a tool – it has become a pillar of collaboration for the global software development community. Projects around the world, from small open-source tools to enterprise-scale applications, rely on Git as their backbone, providing transparency, traceability, and a shared history.
Today, GitLab is proud to be part of this legacy, offering a fully integrated DevSecOps platform built on the power of Git. We believe in the continued importance of open collaboration, versioned source control, and agile workflows – values Git has made possible and accessible to teams of all sizes around the world.
For teams across Czechia, Slovakia, the UK, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, North Macedonia, and beyond, IDEA GitLab Solutions provides professional consulting services, training, and GitLab licences to help you optimise your development lifecycle securely and efficiently. Get in touch with our experts working remotely from Israel, South Africa, and Paraguay to bring Git-powered innovation to your organisation.
Here’s to another 20 years of collaboration and growth with Git — and to Linus Torvalds for giving the developer community such a powerful tool.