Simplify or document string escaping

[ryan-summers]

There are some use case issues with understanding string escape sequences on the Python client for miniconf. Based on the user shell, a variety of escape sequences are required to properly format the JSON.

This is somewhat annoying and requires that the user have a firm understanding of string escape sequencing and JSON, which is non-ideal implementation details that the user shouldn't have to care about.

Simplify how the Python client interprets input data. Single string inputs likely shouldn't require any type of quotes, while JSON data may or may not have quotes internally.

https://forum.m-labs.hk/d/374-error-while-using-miniconf
https://forum.m-labs.hk/d/425-miniconf-installation-error