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> Why legal professionals are not using version control goddamit?! For a start they’re using Word, which doesn’t work well with version control. And asking mo

> Why legal professionals are not using version control goddamit?! For a start they’re using Word, which doesn’t work well with version control. And asking most people to stop using MS Office is like asking them to go and live on the Moon, they look at you like you’re some kind of crazy person.

user5994461 7y ago
Word documents work well in version control. In case you're not aware, you can store word documents and do a diff between any 2 versions over git/svn on windows, it opens the diff view in Word.
- zeven7 7y ago
  Wow, this is going to be very helpful for me. I had no idea. Thanks! So if I install git on Windows and do `git diff MyWordDoc.docx` in the command prompt it'll open up Word?
  - testvox 7y ago
    > You can also use the Git attributes functionality to effectively diff binary files. You do this by telling Git how to convert your binary data to a text format that can be compared via the normal diff. First, you’ll use this technique to solve one of the most annoying problems known to humanity: version-controlling Microsoft Word documents. Everyone knows that Word is the most horrific editor around, but oddly, everyone still uses it. ...Now Git knows that if it tries to do a diff between two snapshots, and any of the files end in .docx, it should run those files through the “word” filter, which is defined as the docx2txt program. This effectively makes nice text-based versions of your Word files before attempting to diff them. https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Customizing-Git-Git-Attributes#_diffing_binary_files https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Customizing-Git-Git-Attribute...
  - user5994461 7y ago
    I am using Tortoise. Not sure about the command line.
- paulddraper 7y ago
  You can store and diff them, but not merge them. It's basically the same as using Word's own history features.
rietta 7y ago
From direct knowledge of working with a State court system, I can tell you that WordPerfect is still very much alive and well!

user5994461 7y ago

Word documents work well in version control. In case you're not aware, you can store word documents and do a diff between any 2 versions over git/svn on windows, it opens the diff view in Word.

zeven7 7y ago
Wow, this is going to be very helpful for me. I had no idea. Thanks! So if I install git on Windows and do `git diff MyWordDoc.docx` in the command prompt it'll open up Word?
- testvox 7y ago
  > You can also use the Git attributes functionality to effectively diff binary files. You do this by telling Git how to convert your binary data to a text format that can be compared via the normal diff. First, you’ll use this technique to solve one of the most annoying problems known to humanity: version-controlling Microsoft Word documents. Everyone knows that Word is the most horrific editor around, but oddly, everyone still uses it. ...Now Git knows that if it tries to do a diff between two snapshots, and any of the files end in .docx, it should run those files through the “word” filter, which is defined as the docx2txt program. This effectively makes nice text-based versions of your Word files before attempting to diff them. https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Customizing-Git-Git-Attributes#_diffing_binary_files https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Customizing-Git-Git-Attribute...
- user5994461 7y ago
  I am using Tortoise. Not sure about the command line.
paulddraper 7y ago
You can store and diff them, but not merge them. It's basically the same as using Word's own history features.

rietta 7y ago

From direct knowledge of working with a State court system, I can tell you that WordPerfect is still very much alive and well!