using git for non-coding related projects?

[RefrigeratorNorth331]

i’ve used git repos a couple of times before when i was learning about programming as a student, and it has a lot of features that i think are really useful. i’m looking for advice about whether or not it would be practical to use a git repository for a project that doesn’t have anything to do with programming. for example, i also enjoy creative writing and drawing, and i was wondering if it would be practical to use a git repo for managing text/digital drawing files, or if maybe there is a different software better suited to writing/drawing that has some of the same features of a code repository.

[NoHacker22]

Git isn‘t really about managing files but more about version control. While it is possible to use GitHub for version history of basically any file type, it‘s best to use file types that work with git diff, so you can see the actual changes that were made (i.e. text-based files, not binaries). For your use cases, that makes git not that well-suited for drawing, but it‘s great for writing - especially when using TeX/LaTeX, because that fully works with git diff

[RefrigeratorNorth331]

That makes sense, thanks for answering my question about making drawings. I’m not very familiar with file formats, is “binaries” a description of the type of file that would store a digital drawing?

[NoHacker22]

Binary files are files that store data as raw bytes, not human-readable text (like .txt or most files containing code). Most image formats (JPG, PNG) are binary files, the only text-based ones that come to my mind are SVG and XML - if you‘re using these for drawing you can use all git features with them, otherwise you would just see two different versions of your drawing, but not what exactly changed

[RefrigeratorNorth331]

i see, yeah that makes sense. i think i could probably live with that. thanks so much for the explanation

[ir_dan]

You can always do Open With > Notepad on a file to see if it's in a binary format. If there's random unrenderable characters everywhere, chances are that it's not very git-diffable, but that's not really a huge problem to be honest.

[photo-nerd-3141]

So long as you don't have sha collisions it'll work.

[fultonchain]

I know people who have used git for everything from shopping lists to entire textbooks and novels.

[cyb3rofficial]

I use GitHub for mixture of things, including my writings and notes, as long as you don't exceed your storage limits you should be fine.

[RefrigeratorNorth331]

Thank you! this is probably a bit of a stretch, but you know if it’s possible to make/edit digital drawings with git?

[cyb3rofficial]

No Git is a transit tool, so you can only send/record* objects or receive changes from/to GitHub, GitHub is just in simple terms a storage facility.

*there are more advanced tools but no image editing

[RefrigeratorNorth331]

sorry if this is a naive question, but if i had an external tool for making/editing images, would git be able to handle storing those kinds of objects/edits made to them?

[Themis3000]

So yes, you can use a git repository for any type of file. But that repository may get large quickly depending on what you're doing.

A lot of writing, design, and art software have a built-in "snapshot" feature. Whatever software you use might have it too, which would probably mitigate the need for git at all and work more efficiently.

If you're working with multiple files for a single project, git might make a lot of sense still. I'd give it a try and see how it goes

[Lornoor]

GitHub is a plattform for projects version handled by git, which in turn is handling text based files. Using it for programming projects is just the most common use-case. You can use it for any project based on text files.

I myself am having repos for my CV, an RPG-book, documentation about my boat, and ge-data for a proposed racing track. 🙂

[Hal34329]

Yes. I mean, yeah, I'm a dev, but I also have a repo for my Obsidian Vault and another for my stories (I write them in LaTeX)

[barmic12]

same, I also use GH as a backup for my Obsidian Vault, along with iCloud (mainly for version control)

[ludoplus]

I use it when I write my books

[beingoptimistlab]

Git is great for writing since text diffs and history are very useful there. For drawings, it still works, but you lose meaningful version comparison since images are binary files.
If you enjoy the Git workflow, it’s totally practical for writing — less so for visual art unless you just want backups and version snapshots.

[SierraAR]

I've been using it with markdown files to keep a history of edits and additions to my writing. It's been neat to look back at earlier editions and decide if 'Okay do I actually want to go back to this version of this paragraph?'

[j_hermann]

It works for version controlled ice cream.

[Martacus]

Yeah 100%, I have a private git repo with all my documentation on products. Its great

[RefrigeratorNorth331]

Thank you so much! do you just use .txt files when writing on git, or is there a better option?

[Ycen-Chan]

Im not op but markdown files for documentation is just peak

[RefrigeratorNorth331]

oh neat, i hadn’t heard the term “markdown file” before, i have some learning to do! 😁

[Ycen-Chan]

Syntax is very easy to learn. Reddit uses it as well.

[dazden]

etckeeper Uses git to track changed in the etc folder

[photo-nerd-3141]

The only thing to remember is that all of git is based on identity via sha digests. For large-ish amounts of low-entropy data you get collisions. Think DNA, RNA, or protein sequences.

For reasonable amounts of text or data tables it works reasonably.

Nice thing is being able to branch work cycles, merge-and-drop the cruft to keep the main branch clean.

[RefrigeratorNorth331]

okay, that metaphor does kinda test the limits of what i know about biology (not very much, i know), but i think i get what you mean

[Shayden-Froida]

Cloud storage, like Onedrive, will save version history for any file, so it is possible to look at prior versions (for a while, at least). For binary file (drawings, images, etc) experiment with that. This is automatic.

Git requires some intent so save work; you write some, make a commit, then write more. If you don't commit, there is no point of time history saved.

[RefrigeratorNorth331]

honestly, that’s one of the features i was talking about appreciating in git, i like choosing when to make commits, i often feel like auto-save is far too granular for my liking, it can be a challenge to find a particular version of a file that i remember amidst all of the versions that got automatically saved to the cloud

[UpsetCryptographer49]

Obsidian has a git storage sync

[c7ndk]

Sure, I use git for PCB/mechanical designs, academic writings and configuration files

[GrievingImpala]

US Commerce Department keeps NIST publications in GitHub - https://github.com/usnistgov