When bzr, and then git, turned up and I started using them, I was told "this is DVC, which is a whole new model that takes getting used to", so I was surprised it seemed normal and straightforward to me.

Then I found out that Sun's Teamware, that I had been using for many years, was a DVC, hence it wasn't some new model. I'd had a few intervening years on other abominable systems and it was a relief to get back to DVC.

Regarding the original post, are there really people around now who think that before git there was no version control? I've never worked without using version control, and I started in the 80s.