Insert commit as first, allowing rebase of initial commit

rebase_first_commit.sh

# first you need a new empty branch; let's call it `newroot`
git checkout --orphan newroot
git rm -rf .

# then you apply the same steps
git commit --allow-empty -m 'root commit'
git rebase --onto newroot --root master
git branch -d newroot

git rebase -i --root