The Linux kernel has ~15 million lines-of-code with 1100+ contributors. I think you would agree they have to deal with complex and subtle bugs as well. They a

The Linux kernel has ~15 million lines-of-code with 1100+ contributors. I think you would agree they have to deal with complex and subtle bugs as well. They also extensively use rebase. Dealing with a thousand commits that say "fixed spelling error in code comment" to satisfy your idea of "pure unchanged history" would be maddening. In any case, it's a matter of perspective I guess. In Git workflow, the "real history" --> git reflog. the "idealized history" is output of --> git rebase. If I interpreted you correctly, what you want is: "real history" --> git log "idealized history" --> git tag -l It's understandable you feel that way but I'm glad Git chose the first way. It fits better with the philosophy of the "D" in DVCS.