Installing Git on Ubuntu

Git is a free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency. ⁽¹⁾ It was created by Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, in 2005.

There are a couple of ways to install Git on Ubuntu. You can install from the official Ubuntu software repository, however you may get a slightly older version. This will not be consequential for most users but in my view, there is no reason to not use the latest stable version, especially since it is just as easy to install.

Installation

To get the latest stable version of Git and get updates as they are available, use the official PPA.

Add the PPA to your system

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:git-core/ppa

Update your machines information on package versions and their dependencies.

sudo apt update

Install Git

sudo apt install git

Check the installed version

git --version

Configuration

Before you can start using Git you need to tell Git your name and email.

git config --global user.name "your-name"
git config --global user.email "you@email.com"

Footnotes

1. Git, git-scm.com

References

• Git, Wikipedia
• [Using PPA in Ubuntu Linux Complete Guide
• Download [Git] for Linux and UNIX

Technical blog by klequis