To many Pd users, any text config file will be arcane.
if a text file is arcane, what is the Windows Registry??
How often to you directly edit text files for your Mail program?
this is exactly how i configured my mail program. i edited 3 text files: .procmailrc, .muttngrc, /etc/postfix/main.cf
Your word processor?
and my word processor. since emacs has syntax highlighting for .emacs files, it was even pretty. it also has a GUI editor for said text files, if you consider the textfile itself too daunting or are afraid of missing a ( or ) somewhere..
Any GUI app?
and my wm (dwm/config.h) and web browser (userChrome.css) and msging app (.irssi/config)
Pd is a GUI-based program, any kind of config editing should be possible via the GUI.
and it now is, in DesireData . it still would be cool to have a settings 'patch' one day, but i dont think in anyone's top 5 TODO priorities
Then we would have to think about the underlying storage format.
i agree. i'm sick of library-specific hacks on cramming what they need to store in the .pd format. or user-level hacks using symbol manipulation objects. it's time for a format that can be at least say, 80% useful and flexible and diffable moving forward. RDF anyone?