Is it reasonable to add this patch to CommitFest now?
It's always reasonable to add a patch to the CommitFest if you would like for it to be reviewed and avoid having it get forgotten about. There seems to be some disagreement about whether we want this, but don't let that stop you from adding it to the next CommitFest.
I'm not dead set against it either. When I have time I will take a closer look.
Andrew, will you have the time to review this? Please add yourself as reviewer in the commitfest app if you do.
My 2 cents is that I agree with your initial reaction: This is a lot of infrastructure and generalizing things, for little benefit. Let's change the current code where we generate JSON to be consistent with whitespace, and call it a day.
I am thinking so it is not bad idea. This code can enforce uniform format, and it can check if produced value is correct. It can be used in our code, it can be used by extension's developers.
This patch is not small, but really new lines are not too much.