>>> It consists of a binary file
>
> STOP.
>
> Why not XML?
>
>>> In fairness, it's not /completely/ identical. The folders are called
>>> "keys" under Windows, whereas Gsettings calls them "schemas". Both
>>> systems store this stuff in a binary file, but Gsettings loads the key
>>> definitions from XML files and "compiles" them into binary.
>
> Okay, but why compile them? It's not like drive space is a scarce
> resource anymore.

Indeed. Considering that the original XML files *still exist*. It seems 
when you add a new application, it drops an XML file into a folder, and 
you recreate the binary file from everything in that folder. When you 
remove an application, it removes it's own XML file, and you rebuild the 
binary file from what's left.

I would imagine the reason for this is so that applications can access 
the binary file quickly and efficiently, rather than to save disk space. 
You don't have to search and parse lots of XML files, checking for 
syntax errors and name clashes and whatever at run-time.

Then again, the GNOME 3 shell appears to be written entirely in 
JavaScript, so what do I know?

>> 2. Things don't always uninstall cleanly.
>
> That's mostly the uninstaller's fault.

Yep.

> 5. All of your eggs are in one basket. Yes, let's put the settings for
> your application, Jack's application, and the drivers for your hardware
> devices, all in one big file. That won't cause any problems, no sir.

It won't as long as the OS itself is the only thing allows to access 
that file, and different parts of the file have different access 
permissions. In that respect, it's just like the filesystem itself; only 
the OS is allowed to touch the Master File Table that says where each 
file is, and individual files have different access permissions.

Then again, Gsettings doesn't appear to have access permissions, so...

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