agreed, text templating of yaml (or any structured content) does not make sense. too much context (actual config structure) is lost if plain text is used.
i've collaborated on ytt (https://get-ytt.io) - yaml templating tool. it works directly with yaml structure to bind templating directives. for example setting a value is associated with a specific yaml node so that you dont have to do any manual indenting etc. like you would with plain text templating. defining functions that return yaml structures becomes very easy as well. common problems such as improperly escaped values are gone.
i'm also experimenting with a "strict" mode [1] that raises error for questionable yaml features, for example, using NO to mean false.
i think that yaml is here to stay (at least for some time) and it's worth investing in making tools that make dealing with yaml and its common uses (templating) easier.
i've collaborated on ytt (https://get-ytt.io) - yaml templating tool. it works directly with yaml structure to bind templating directives. for example setting a value is associated with a specific yaml node so that you dont have to do any manual indenting etc. like you would with plain text templating. defining functions that return yaml structures becomes very easy as well. common problems such as improperly escaped values are gone.
i'm also experimenting with a "strict" mode [1] that raises error for questionable yaml features, for example, using NO to mean false.
i think that yaml is here to stay (at least for some time) and it's worth investing in making tools that make dealing with yaml and its common uses (templating) easier.
[1] https://github.com/k14s/ytt/blob/master/docs/strict.md