diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
index e88c771000116ac505ee0d533c8de502e80aaf2f..855a936bd245bb4be178690b3d74bf2cc00b564f 100644
--- a/.gitattributes
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -1,3 +1,17 @@
+# Autodetect text files
+* text=auto
+
+# ...Unless the name matches the following
+# overriding patterns
+
+# Definitively text files 
+*.txt text
+*.c text
+*.h text
+*.y text
+*.ac text
+*.m4 text
+
 *.dll binary
 *.exe binary
 *.a binary