I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of the implications of GPLed software.

If you incorporate GPLed software into your own software - that is, copy the source code - then your work is considered a derived work and is also under the GPL.

Software that is LGPLed can be linked to without making your application under the GPL itself. This includes things like glibc. (The "L" in "LGPL" used to stand for "Library" but now it means "Lesser.")

Finally, if you use GPL software to produce your own works, there is no effect. So using git to manage your own source has no impact. Same with using gcc to compile your source.

I thought that the grand-parent comment referred to sentences such as this from the article:

"Git can be used as a database for your application."

If you intend to distribute your application, even though you're not copying the git source code directly, nor linking your application directly against a git library, the GPL is rather ambiguous.

"Pipes, sockets and command-line arguments are communication mechanisms normally used between two separate programs. So when they are used for communication, the modules normally are separate programs. But if the semantics of the communication are intimate enough, exchanging complex internal data structures, that too could be a basis to consider the two parts as combined into a larger program." -- http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0-faq.html#Me...

Minor correction: the LGPL relaxes the reciprocity requirement for code that uses the LGPL code; linking isn't the only example, imports in dynamic languages is another.

The GPL doesn't have a reciprocity requirement; it's a pay-it-forward system.

Good explanation!

I'm not seeing the term "allowed" on the page. Maybe it was edited since you posted. I'm thinking that if it was used, it was probably a result of English being a second-language or something similar.

I don't understand how the GNU GPL license would impact your usage of git. Do you intend to include git with your application?

I think the intent of this article is to show you the different ways you can implement git to solve a variety of problems. The GNU GPL license is largely irrelevant to end-users of software.

Intention of the post is to show various ways in which we can use git and they are allowed uses too. For e.g. MySQL uses GNU GPL too, you can use it in your poject and use it for any purpose.

git is such a beautifully elegant concept and execution... it's so simple that i still often find myself grappling with exactly what the heck a particular command does and when it should be used.

i personally always get a small giddy thrill when i see such a wide spectrum of applications from a simple underlying concept... just like these. and each application alone is cool! DB, wiki, dropbox-clone... very, very cool stuff when considering the implications of integration on /that/ level.

but apparently this isn't a universal sentiment, given some of the comments on this thread (that i am genuinely surprised at, given what i would think is the typical "curious/hacker" mentality of the crowd here).