It was more that Tridge &quot;reversed&quot;[1] the Bitkeeper protocol, leading to licensing issues and the eventual separation of Linux from Bitkeeper. The need for a high performance, distributed replacement motivated Linus to write a git.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;lwn.net&#x2F;Articles&#x2F;132938&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;lwn.net&#x2F;Articles&#x2F;132938&#x2F;</a>