Does a Distributed Version Control System really have no centralised repository?
There is no enforced central repository – it is only by convention. Most projects do have a central repository, but each repository is equal in the sense that they have the full history, and can push and pull patches between each other. One way to think of it is a centralised VCS is fixed in a star topology: one central hub acts as the server with the complete repository, with one or more clients hanging off it. The clients typically only have a copy of the most recent clean checkout, and limited history (if any). So most operations require a round-trip to the server. Branching is achieved by creating branches within the one repository. In a distributed VCS, there is no limit to the topology of your network. You can theoretically have any shape you like. You can have a separate repository per team or sub-project, and stage commits. You can have a stable repository and an unstable repository, and lots of feature branches, and so on. And there is no client/server distinction – all nodes
