[zeveb]

This is why the SPKI guys, seventeen years ago, made one of their design goals not using ASN.1: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2692 states 'No library code should be required for the packing or parsing of SPKI certificates. In particular, ASN.1 is not to be used.'

They came up with a simple, beautiful representation for certificates. They also came up with a simple, logic, understandable way to think about what certificates can and cannot do.

The world ignored them. RFCs 2692 & 2693 stand as a remarkable example of what could have been.