GConf's current use of CORBA for IPC is suboptimal, for several reasons. 
Most importantly, unless we move all IPC into a separate thread, it
guarantees average somewhat-too-high latency, and worst-case unbounded
latency. Also, even the current use of "oneway" can't 100% guarantee that
we won't block, while we should really have that guarantee especially for
the daemon. The current IDL is an unextensible mess, and making it
extensible would involve stripping it down to send_extensible_text_blob()
as a method, which is identical to a custom protocol.

I would move instead to a protocol like the X protocol, which is designed
to avoid round trips. Alternatively, perhaps a reworking in terms of ACAP
with extensions would be appropriate.

A protocol would also encourage wider adoption outside of GNOME.

In any case, a long-term project to think about.