There is probably a need for a more targeted promise lib for EL/Debian that does some of the simple stuff out of the box. However, it's a slippery slope because

There is probably a need for a more targeted promise lib for EL/Debian that does some of the simple stuff out of the box. However, it's a slippery slope because part of the problem with the configuration management domain is the mindset you exhibit. Windows and other Unix operating systems are not niches. Excluding operating systems because you don't see them being used or deployed will result in an ever growing list of small point solutions that don't solve very many problems. Then as soon as you outgrow that solution you have a larger problem on your hands. It's no harder to manage, say, Solaris using CFengine than it is to manage EL/Debian. You're right that CFengine isn't mentioned here very often and that's most likely because it's not new web 2.0 startup-o-fied ruby fanboi cool. It's been around since 1993. So in almost 20 years the problem of configuration management hasn't been solved in a satisfactory manner. It's a very difficult problem to solve.