As Bernard Fouché wrote:
Now it would be nice to have avrdude to be able to process the XML
definition files in Atmel\AVR Tools\Partdescriptionfiles\ that
avrstudio4 now provides.
Alas, Atmel considers these files ``Intellectual Property'' and thus
forbids redistribution outside of AVR Studio. I've already tried to
get them opening their policy, but as this touches company lawyers and
such, this policy is probably not going to change quickly.
These files could also replace avrdude.conf file format, ...
Nope, avrdude.conf contains quite a bit other stuff, in particular the
definition of the various programming adapter layouts. Also, I think the
XML files don't have the actual ISP commands used as this knowledge is
not required for AVR Studio.