Well, is that really fair?  autotools&#x27; scope is great, like you concede.  But it was designed around 1991, right?<p>&gt; That everyone else just kind of seemed to go with it<p>There was nothing else better available, and this was effective -- is effective.<p>If you haven&#x27;t seen the effect of momentum in software, then this is nothing.  Look at how x86 systems get bootstrapped; look at how we interact with important platform devices like the RTC (I&#x2F;O ports).  Virtually none of this has changed because it doesn&#x27;t introduce significant limitations in operating systems or hardware but it&#x27;s downright odd.