2

2Git, the concept

2.8

The remote repository

A remote repository is generally a copy of a local repository that exists on a server somewhere that other people also have access to.

There are two points to having a remote repository:

  1. It acts as a backup for the local repository

  2. It allows a team of people to collaborate on a Git project

2.8.1

Local and remote repositories: the differences

To state the bleeding obvious—local repositories are, well, local; they live on a specific computer used by a single project team member. The local repository is for the use of that specific person on that specific machine.

A remote repository on the other hand is hosted on a server somewhere and can be accessed by all the team members.

Local repositories have associated working and staging areas where work is developed staged and ultimately committed to the local repository.

Remote repositories do not have working and staging areas; it is just the bare repository.

2.8.2

Where does a remote repository live?

The answer to this is it could be on a networked server on a local network (within say, the office); or it could be stored on an internet based server (such as github or bitbucket).

In this publication I only consider a GitHub remote repository; this is the most common remote repository and it works very well. I explain how to use it in great detail in section §§ 9 and 10.



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