Honestly, if I were to modify make for some custom behavior, I would look for another tool¹ or create yet another builder tool. Because although I already know most of the syntax, point #2 is an incredibly big problem, the GP missed point #4 in that make does not manage external dependencies², and the syntax is not bad only for learning, but for using too.
1 - Almost everybody seems to agree with me on this. The only problem is that we have all migrated to language constrained tools. This is a problem worth fixing.
2 - Wether it is installing them or simply testing if they are there, make can't do any. Hello autotools, with it syntax set to extreme cumbersomeness.
Honestly, if I were to modify make for some custom behavior, I would look for another tool¹ or create yet another builder tool. Because although I already know most of the syntax, point #2 is an incredibly big problem, the GP missed point #4 in that make does not manage external dependencies², and the syntax is not bad only for learning, but for using too.
1 - Almost everybody seems to agree with me on this. The only problem is that we have all migrated to language constrained tools. This is a problem worth fixing.
2 - Wether it is installing them or simply testing if they are there, make can't do any. Hello autotools, with it syntax set to extreme cumbersomeness.