[andi999]

To argue for this workflow: the mutex is soft (social) which is a good thing, sometimes ppl do not reply on time and you need to move forward. For having new ideas/paragraphs after sending out, you either inform the colleague to hold it until your done, or you send a paragraph and ask him to merge it.

The mail allows you to see all patches, sometimes 'clean slate' is done by accepting all changes. While this sounds like a problem in theory, in practise its not.

I agree that things can be better somehow, but it is really difficult to see any solution which is at least 10% better. The current workflow also has the advantages: - data is as safe as your filesystem and email system together - Word file is generally not considered a vendor lock-in - everybody understands the workflow - nobody can block the workflow (like not checking in again with sharepoint)