hey /g/, a /lit/erati here. I've realized that because

>>58797969
>The problem is, I don't know how rich text files react to merges
It doesn't work.
You'll have to work with a raw text format to use this feature.

>>58797969
kys yourself my dude

btw what would you use merge for if you're the only writer of the novella?

>>58798104
becuase during editing I might find I need to write multiple versions of the same passage and figure out the best way to re-assemble them

>>58798256
Well source control merge implementations are based on the assumption that the files are text files, so you'll have to use one of those formats. Latex is like that of course, and I believe there exists open formats for WYSIWYG editors that are also text-based.

>>58797969
No one is gonna read your shit anyways there champ lmao

>>58797969
install gentoo

Use Latex or Markdown. If you're a normie with no willingness to learn you can just do all your editing in Github's web interface too.

>>58797969
>>58798044
>he thinks rich text is necessary binary files

OP, some options are:

- markdown (no semantical formatting, though)
- TeX-based formats (again, forget about target neutral semantics)
- Flat XML ODF (a saving option of LO)
- DocBook
- probably a lot more things

>>58798428
I know how to use git just fine. Markdown was my primary idea but I would feel more comfortable with a format that works in a rich text editor so I can see the differences and have spellchecking

>>58798455
I was aware of ODF but wouldn't the merge-conflict bars fuck up the XML?

>>58798096
Back to school on Monday friend.

>>58798564
I write a lot of latex, and I also enjoy those things.
I use kile, which is a dedicated text editor for latex, so I can enable stuff like that for TeX files.
Something similar must exist for markdown.

>>58798564
>so I can see the differences
Elaborate

>have spellchecking
Almost all text editors (including your browser) have spellchecking. Opening your plaintext file in Word will still give you spellchecking if you want to do that, too.

>>58798564
>I was aware of ODF but wouldn't the merge-conflict bars fuck up the XML?
I'm not too sure. If you are afraid of the nested stuff, it would probably break anything else nested as well...
Might be worth a try.

>>58798455
RTF too maybe

>>58798641
> Elaborate
In other words, when I have italicized text, I want it to look italicized. I'm not too keen on seeing it enclosed in asterisks

>Almost all text editors (including your browser) have spellchecking. Opening your plaintext file in Word will still give you spellchecking if you want to do that, too.
true, but I don't want to have to go back and forth between different editors. I want to be able to use just one

>>58797969
>I don't know how rich text files react to merges
They don't.

>>58798742
>In other words, when I have italicized text, I want it to look italicized. I'm not too keen on seeing it enclosed in asterisks
Github has at least a preview button, I'm not sure if they have a WYSIWYG editor for markdown. I know vim can give you an approximation of what markdown looks like, other code editors probably do too. Alternatively, just Google for any number of "online markdown wysiwyg" editors. There are WYSIWYG Latex editors too.

>true, but I don't want to have to go back and forth between different editors
While I'm actually not a huge fan of them, the nice thing about web-based systems is that they will not only work everywhere, but on every device too.

>>58798742
Then pick your favorite and use its spell checker. Vim, emacs, Sublime text, etc all have it

>>58797969
>not using LaTeX
>complaining about (text line based) version control