Is dconf a new idea that no one has taken up, or is it obsolescent, or what?

[Chris Green]

I just discovered that gnucash stores user preferences in dconf.  That
threw me a bit because it's different from just about every other
Linux program I have ever worked with.

The standard for *program* preferences and configuration is now surely
~/.config/<program name>.

However I investigated dconf a little and it appears to be a 'better'
replacement for gconf. Dconf stores its data in ~/.config/dconf/user
(so it conforms to the above standard).  This file 'user' is in a binary
format, not human readable, so you have to use dconf utility programs
to access it and/or modify it.

The problem is that it's not at all clear what should be stored in
this dconf database.  Looking at what's in there it seems to be mostly
desktop and GUI configuration under headings/directories like gnome,
gtk, mate, freedesktop, etc.  The presence of gnucash configuration
there is a bit of an anomaly!

Is there anywhere that tells one the philosophy (as it were) behind
dconf and what it's for?

Also is its use going to expand, or contract, is it deprecated, or what?

-- 
Chris Green