Download package git-1.5.3.tar.gz. This version was tested and works well. Other versions may work too.
Move it to the home directory
In the terminal, to verify the package is there, type
ls
To unpack git type
tar zxf git-1.5.3.tar.gz
To enter the newly created directory, type
cd git-1.5.3
To configure git, type
./configure --prefix=/usr
Watch many messages, but no errors.
To compile git, type
make
Watch many messages, but no errors.
To install it, type
sudo make install
Watch many messages, but no errors.
To go back to the home directory, type
cd
Notes.
1. When configuring git, the specification of the --prefix is needed so that once git gets installed, it will overwrite the other version of git if that may have been there already. It is therefore not needed to uninstall the version of git that may already be on your operating system.