See the references above to get started using git. The following is
probably more detail than necessary for a first-time user.
-The <<Discussion,Discussion>> section below and the
-link:core-tutorial.html[Core tutorial] both provide introductions to the
-underlying git architecture.
+The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[git concepts chapter of the
+user-manual] and the link:core-tutorial.html[Core tutorial] both provide
+introductions to the underlying git architecture.
See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
examples.
Discussion[[Discussion]]
------------------------
-include::core-intro.txt[]
+
+More detail on the following is available from the
+link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[git concepts chapter of the
+user-manual] and the link:core-tutorial.html[Core tutorial].
+
+A git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
+subdirectory at the top level. The .git directory contains, among other
+things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
+of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
+contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
+as tags and branch heads.
+
+The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
+hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
+directory heirarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
+and some number of parent commits.
+
+The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
+"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
+represents an immediately preceding step. Commits with more than one
+parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
+
+All objects are named by the SHA1 hash of their contents, normally
+written as a string of 40 hex digits. Such names are globally unique.
+The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
+just that commit. A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
+purpose.
+
+When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
+efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
+
+Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history. A ref
+may contain the SHA1 name of an object or the name of another ref. Refs
+with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA1 name of the most
+recent commit (or "head") of a branch under developement. SHA1 names of
+tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`. A special ref named
+`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
+
+The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
+path, a blob object and a set of attributes. The blob object represents
+the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch. The
+attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
+corresponding file in the working tree. Subsequent changes to the
+working tree can be found by comparing these attributes. The index may
+be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
+content stored in the index.
+
+The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
+for a given pathname. These stages are used to hold the various
+unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
Authors
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