Binary files are by definition unmergeble with a diff3 algorithm implementation that uses text tokens separated by \n. Specific software to merge a binary file

Binary files are by definition unmergeble with a diff3 algorithm implementation that uses text tokens separated by \n. Specific software to merge a binary file format can be used with virtually any version control system if available. You can set an svn:needs-lock property on binaries. It is not a local option, it applies to everyone using the repository. For extra convience, use svn:auto-props (acts recursively) to set it by default on new files which match a particular filename pattern (e.g. match on file name extension). http://subversion.apache.org/docs/release-notes/1.8.html#repos-dictated-config http://subversion.apache.org/docs/release-notes/1.8.html#rep... EDIT: That said, I agree that some types of binary files really have no place in SVN repositories. One example are release artifacts, as stored e.g. in Maven repositories.