I want completely different things from the configuration format, depending on the software I'm configuring. JSON is great if I'm going to want to generate con

I want completely different things from the configuration format, depending on the software I'm configuring. JSON is great if I'm going to want to generate configs programmatically much of the time but still want to be able to view or edit them manually now and then. JSON (+comments) is a fine config format for vscode since it's (among other things) a specialized JSON editor, and it gets to leverage functionality it already has (JSON schema support) towards making it's configuration management pleasant. If the config is going to go in a users home directory, like ssh or fontconfig, or for services like nginx and polkit where other software is going to want to add some configuration, then support for config glob directories (e.g. conf.d) is very handy, so that different system packages or gnu stow directories can provide their config via file tree merging. Some software gets a ton of value from using a scripting language as it's config format, although in general it's something to avoid. Vim and emacs wouldn't be what they are with a less powerful config format. Some programs need just a tiny sprinkle of config, just to specify the socket to bind on and maybe some database credentials. INI files or even just environment variables are ideal for this sort of thing. JSON has its place, the problem is that it's too easy to use. Programmers automatically turn to it without thinking about what their software needs from its config format. It's the not thinking that's the problem.