
Why you need version control for your Word documents - ben-morris
https://www.simuldocs.com/blog/ben-morris/why-you-need-version-control
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bediger4000
I've advocated for version control of documents (and they're Word docs, no
matter what tech stack the project uses) since the mid-90s. Don't do this
unless you want project managers to look at you like you're growing a second
face on your ass.

But working with source code without version control (usually something
useless you have to pay for)!?!? Why, that's against Best Practices! What if
you get hit by a bus!?!?

I'm amused that someone is trying to monetize the fact that Word's weird file
format isn't amenable to any kind of ordinary version control. Good on ya, and
more power to you, Simul! The world needs Word docs in version control, and
I'm not being facetious or ironic.

~~~
PaulHoule
I don't know if the format is as bad as you think.

A DOCX file is just a ZIP file which has XML, PNG, JPG, etc. files in it.

In principle you could unpack the ZIP, manage the directory with conventional
VC tools, then repack the ZIP to open it in word. At that point it's mainly an
issue of managing changes in the XML, which may or may not be easy based on
how stable the XML is (does it change in huge ways for no reason?); "track
changes" data could also be helpful for locating exactly what changed and
merging it.

Neat looking product!

