> 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?