According to Ty Sarna <tsarna@endicor.com> :
> 
> ...  I do have my own
> library that implements somehting similar (but with IMHO a much better
> API and some very small format enhancements). But, I don't use it for
> things that there's any chance of getting into NetBSD.
> 
My two cents' worth.  There are definite places in Unix where an 
old-fashioned approach just doesn't cut it.  I'd like to take a peek at 
your ".INI" proposal, because I have been thinking along those lines 
for a while and I think a single generic approach to configuration 
files is called for.

My thoughts on the matter, conditioned by my somewhat muddled 
understanding of the Plan 9 paradigm (I run Plan 9, I love it, but I 
really lack a proper understanding of it) run from a generic .INI 
representation to a hierarchical structure, past the NT registry, into 
a virtual file system that presents information in ASN.1 format.

Crazy?  Sure.  But it is an interesting speculation that brings a lot 
of difficult things together in a standardised form.  If anyone else 
sees things along these lines, I'd appreciate being able to discuss 
these ideas outside the NetBSD environment, keeping in mind that the 
end product should remain compatible with existing operating systems, 
and, of course, should be readily usable.
-- 
Lucio de Re (lucio@proxima.alt.za)
Disclaimer: I'm working at getting my opinions to agree with me.