print('----------------- BEGIN')
    for scope in scopes:
        # read potentially cached data from the scope.

        data = scope.get_section(section)

        # Skip empty configs
        if not data or not isinstance(data, dict):
            continue

        if section not in data:
            tty.warn("Skipping bad configuration file: '%s'" % scope.path)
            continue

        print('********* data', data)
        merged_section = _merge_yaml(merged_section, data)



    print('********* result', merged_section)
    print('----------------- END')

----------------- BEGIN
('********* data', {'packages': {'all': {'compiler': ['gcc', 'intel', 'pgi', 'clang', 'xl', 'nag'], 'providers': {'awk': ['gawk'], 'blas': ['openblas'], 'daal': ['intel-daal'], 'elf': ['elfutils'], 'gl': ['mesa', 'opengl'], 'glu': ['mesa-glu', 'openglu'], 'golang': ['gcc'], 'ipp': ['intel-ipp'], 'java': ['jdk'], 'lapack': ['openblas'], 'mkl': ['intel-mkl'], 'mpe': ['mpe2'], 'mpi': ['openmpi', 'mpich'], 'opencl': ['pocl'], 'openfoam': ['openfoam-com', 'openfoam-org', 'foam-extend'], 'pil': ['py-pillow'], 'pkgconfig': ['pkgconf', 'pkg-config'], 'scalapack': ['netlib-scalapack'], 'szip': ['libszip', 'libaec'], 'tbb': ['intel-tbb'], 'jpeg': ['libjpeg-turbo', 'libjpeg']}, 'paths': {}, 'modules': {}, 'buildable': True, 'version': []}}})
('********* data', {'packages': {'foo-a': {'version': ['develop'], 'paths': {}, 'providers': {}, 'modules': {}, 'buildable': True, 'compiler': []}}})
('********* data', {'packages': {'icebin': {'variants': ['+coupler', '+modele', '+pism'], 'paths': {}, 'providers': {}, 'modules': {}, 'buildable': True, 'version': [], 'compiler': []}}})
('********* data', {'packages': {'icebin': {'version': ['develop'], 'paths': {}, 'providers': {}, 'modules': {}, 'buildable': True, 'compiler': []}}})
('********* result', {'packages': {'all': {'compiler': ['gcc', 'intel', 'pgi', 'clang', 'xl', 'nag'], 'providers': {'awk': ['gawk'], 'blas': ['openblas'], 'daal': ['intel-daal'], 'elf': ['elfutils'], 'gl': ['mesa', 'opengl'], 'glu': ['mesa-glu', 'openglu'], 'golang': ['gcc'], 'ipp': ['intel-ipp'], 'java': ['jdk'], 'lapack': ['openblas'], 'mkl': ['intel-mkl'], 'mpe': ['mpe2'], 'mpi': ['openmpi', 'mpich'], 'opencl': ['pocl'], 'openfoam': ['openfoam-com', 'openfoam-org', 'foam-extend'], 'pil': ['py-pillow'], 'pkgconfig': ['pkgconf', 'pkg-config'], 'scalapack': ['netlib-scalapack'], 'szip': ['libszip', 'libaec'], 'tbb': ['intel-tbb'], 'jpeg': ['libjpeg-turbo', 'libjpeg']}, 'paths': {}, 'modules': {}, 'buildable': True, 'version': ['develop']}, 'foo-a': {'version': ['develop'], 'paths': {}, 'providers': {}, 'modules': {}, 'buildable': True, 'compiler': []}, 'icebin': {'variants': ['+coupler', '+modele', '+pism'], 'paths': {}, 'providers': {}, 'modules': {}, 'buildable': True, 'version': ['develop'], 'compiler': []}}})
----------------- END