Pretty cool that Linus Torvalds invented a completely distributed version control system and 20 years later we all use it to store our code in a single place.
Turns out the important part wasn't the distributed-ness at all (unless you count being able to work offline). Many such cases.
Oh it is, but I think people forget what the distributed model gets you. It isn't just about having a completely decentralised workflow. When you clone a repo you have everything you need to keep working on that project. You have your own copy of all the branches which you are free to do whatever you want with. This is what makes it fast. Every clone has a brand new master branch and you never needed to ask anyone or get agreement to get your own branch to work on. Commits on your branch will never interfere with anyone else's work. You don't need to lock files and complete your work as quickly as possible. You can do as many commits as you like, a hundred in a day is not unheard of, because it's your branch. Previously people would commit once a day at most and sometimes not even until the end of the week, which is just unthinkable to a git user. A git clone is your own personal repo which allows you to use version control before you even share anything with anyone.