Kind of makes me wonder once again why the kernel itself can't handle a simple flat file config system ? Maybe Redhat style VARIABLE=value pairs. Its pure, its simple, you can edit it as plain text - best of all if it exists as a common API without dependency then people would use it.
Like programming languages, config languages should provide expressability for many problem domains, and that means hierarchy is desirable. Indirection would also be a good feature. As would inheritance.
