You already have a Git server
The article explains that most developers already have a Git server on their local machine simply by having Git installed, as Git is inherently a distributed version control system. It demonstrates how to set up a basic remote repository using SSH and a shared directory, without relying on external services like GitHub or GitLab.
Background
- This article is aimed at developers who assume they need a hosted service like GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket to collaborate on code. The author's point is that Git itself is a peer-to-peer protocol: any machine with SSH access can act as a remote repository.
- "Git" is the version-control system used by nearly all software teams. "SSH" (Secure Shell) is a standard network protocol for securely logging into another computer over a network.
- The article walks through setting up a bare Git repository on a server you already control (e.g., a VPS, a NAS, or even a Raspberry Pi) and pushing/pulling code to it directly via SSH, with no web dashboard, no CI/CD pipelines, and no third-party dependency.
- Why this matters: many developers treat GitHub or GitLab as essential infrastructure, but for personal projects, internal tools, or privacy-conscious teams, a self-hosted Git server is trivially simple to set up — and most developers already have the hardware sitting unused.