The Case for Gconf

I agree that for the kind of configuration file usage Gnome makes, a database would be better (DBM or one of the embedded SQL engines). Note, incidentally, that X11 traditionally uses a database, and a database that runs in the correct location for a network-transparent window system: on the display server. Gconf would work so much better if it used one of those.

However, I question whether that is the best way of handling configuration files in the first place. It may be the best way for simple applications and simple usages, like what Windows targets, but why can't people who work on OSS do something better than just clone whatever Windows does?