[stvltvs]

A better XML encoding would be the following, optimally with a schema that would define allowed values.

    <setting name="foo" value="true"/>

[TRiG_Ireland]

That still feels ugly and verbose to me.

[stvltvs]

I don't disagree, but it's easier to rigorously validate than lighter-weight markup languages, if that's important to the use case.