Give users and packager devs a choice of config file formats / representations. Why is this even a goal? On the contrary, I see this as an anti-goal, because it leads to useless creativity and fragmentation. such creativity and fragmentation may actually give benefits.
can MVC [1] be relevant here? currently both config content (let's call it a *model*) and representation ( *view*: specific config file type) are bundled. if a common *model *is agreed on*,* package tool and IDE devs could pick any *view (*format*)* that best suits their / users needs. such fragmentation would not break the workflow. If someone thinks of a convenient format and believe it worth their time to write a *controller* for it, why not? [1] mvc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model%E2%80%93view%E2%80%93controller