Also please remember current comps format has lots of good properties:
1. it can be version controled
2. it can be diffed
3. it can be grepped
4. it can be edited with minimal tooling
5. it can be syntax-checked with minimal tooling
6. none of those tools are platform-specific
7. it scales better than the alternatives presented so far
So it's not totally bad.
--
Nicolas Mailhot