> We've got {filesystems, network filesystems, and VCS}, and each of the three has some features the others would like! We actually have a fourth one that has

> We've got {filesystems, network filesystems, and VCS}, and each of the three has some features the others would like! We actually have a fourth one that has nice features but missing what you exactly need: packages (and associated package managers). A package has (on top of build instructions) a list of files, and can depend on another package for working properly. At the top, you could have your own "machine.pkg" that defines all that is needed and is updated as some files are updated. A package can go from one machine to another and only the missing dependencies will be fetched. A package manager has the pro that any part can be defined as a package and abstracted away, and the con that packages aren't expected to change much so it'd become heavy to recursively update all packages, but that could be a way to hack something.