this post was submitted on 22 May 2024
979 points (97.8% liked)
Science Memes
10833 readers
3007 users here now
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !abiogenesis@mander.xyz
- !animal-behavior@mander.xyz
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !arachnology@mander.xyz
- !balconygardening@slrpnk.net
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !biology@mander.xyz
- !biophysics@mander.xyz
- !botany@mander.xyz
- !ecology@mander.xyz
- !entomology@mander.xyz
- !fermentation@mander.xyz
- !herpetology@mander.xyz
- !houseplants@mander.xyz
- !medicine@mander.xyz
- !microscopy@mander.xyz
- !mycology@mander.xyz
- !nudibranchs@mander.xyz
- !nutrition@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
- !photosynthesis@mander.xyz
- !plantid@mander.xyz
- !plants@mander.xyz
- !reptiles and amphibians@mander.xyz
Physical Sciences
- !astronomy@mander.xyz
- !chemistry@mander.xyz
- !earthscience@mander.xyz
- !geography@mander.xyz
- !geospatial@mander.xyz
- !nuclear@mander.xyz
- !physics@mander.xyz
- !quantum-computing@mander.xyz
- !spectroscopy@mander.xyz
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and sports-science@mander.xyz
- !gardening@mander.xyz
- !self sufficiency@mander.xyz
- !soilscience@slrpnk.net
- !terrariums@mander.xyz
- !timelapse@mander.xyz
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Don't you automatically put everything relevant you create in a version control system? And if not, why?
There's no thinking involved on it. Create repo; run editor. The sequence is automatic.
Only makes sense if it's text files (like source code). Even if DOCX files are just a bunch of XML files wearing ZIP trenchcoat as this guy says, chances are git doesn't know that, so it'll treat the whole thing as a binary file and save each revision as a separate file entirely, in which case you haven't really accomplished much other than hiding away all those intermediate versions in an invisible drawer.
What's a huge improvement.
And the alternative is what exactly? Using the Word's internal version control? Yeah, right; good luck with that.
I suppose it can be helpful if seeing a folder full of revisions would otherwise drive you crazy. I mean, I fully admit I also sometimes just dump a mess from my desk into a drawer just so I don't have to look at it constantly.
Also, if you have a consistent habit of writing accurate and descriptive commit comments, you may not need to rely on being able to compare line-by-line diffs to see what's changed between versions.
I think the moral of the story is that git is a somewhat suboptimal tool for this purpose and it whether it's helpful at all depends far more on your habits and discipline than on the functionality it provides.
AKA the best we have around.
If something appeared that handled opaque data better, it would take some thinking before creating the repository. Currently, there's no reason to think at all.
Outside of being able to comment on each revision when making a commit, I guess I don't see what benefit this provides that regular, automated backups (such as Time Machine) don't.