Why .env and .env.example in fresh installations

Because Laravel only copies the .env.example and renames it to .env: https://github.com/laravel/laravel/blob/master/composer.json#L33

But the .env.example still exist because just imagine you upload some code to github or something like that. Because the .env.example still exist other people can know how the .env file is set up.

.env as it should be is out of version controlled and ignored when you push your project to any repository. This is for your own safety.

.env.example which contains very generic information is copied as .env on fresh install and a few changes made. ex APP_KEY

Ok, if I understand this correctly is because .env gets ignored when commiting to Git but not .env.example. In other words it is a way to provide a file with most of what other people working on the same project will need without exposing personal info, am I close?

Exactly -

And of course the .env file is directly used by Laravel. The .env.example is the same as like the wp-config-sample.php file in Wordpress. A Blueprint for your Config File.

Got it, thanks a lot for the clarification.