By random developer's machines they meant the actual machines. You can technically pull from another developer's (random or not, but anyone with the repo) actua

By random developer's machines they meant the actual machines. You can technically pull from another developer's (random or not, but anyone with the repo) actual laptop rather than going through an intermediary. That was in fact one of the arguments a few true believers used in favor of DVCS when it was still a novelty. The think I think truly gives developers comfort, in addition to all the nice features it makes simple, is LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe). When everyone has a full copy of the repo, even if you generally work through an intermediary, the central repo being blown away or taken control of by a bad actor doesn't mean you need to reconstruct the history of the code from whatever single snapshot checkouts individuals happen to have. That said, I will agree that the workflows enabled, as well as the power of a common platform, are probably what really let git and github become the new default. edit: Also I imagine being able to paw through the entire history and bisect entirely locally are vital features for a small (but essential especially of open source) minority of developers.