> The method I use and often encourage other people to use is version control latex and csv files and python scripts in git, which can do everything MS office d

> The method I use and often encourage other people to use is version control latex and csv files and python scripts in git, which can do everything MS office does. Unfortunately what MS Office does that people often want is "present an interface with which I'm familiar" and "read all these MS Office files that people send me", neither of which LaTeX, CSV, and Python handle well (although I wouldn't be surprised if there were a Python module for at least rudimentary support of MS Office file formats). Not to disagree with your main point—I also rely on that toolkit, though, as a not-very-computational mathematician, I find I don't have that much need for programming in my workflow—but I do think one has to be careful about what people are reluctant to give up.