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I think it was due to the free version of bitkeeper (which the Linux kernel used for vcs) was taken off market. So the Linux devs would either have to pay for a DVCS or make their own... Several made their own, Git was chosen for the kernel, alot of people found uses for the others. I could be wrong, but I think that's the case.

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There never was a free version.

BitMoover Inc provided free BitKeeper licences to the Linux kernel devs. This was unpopular because of the non-FOSS nature of Bitkeeper. Andrew Tridgell [1] at OSDL became frustrated with some aspects of the software and reverse-engineered its network protocol to develop his own limited client. This caused BitMoover to revoke the licences used by OSDL, which in turn provoked Linus Torvalds (who was at OSDL) to develop the early version of Git. [2]

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Tridgell

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitKeeper#Pricing_change

In 2005, there were already some free, open-source DVCSs. Linus considered using Monotone for the Linux kernel project before deciding to start Git.

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