Other people mentioned nix package managers (rpm, apt, etc.) - I'll also mention nuget is apparently an option for native code too. Why isn't there a more gene

Other people mentioned nix package managers (rpm, apt, etc.) - I'll also mention nuget is apparently an option for native code too. Why isn't there a more generic option? Well: There's a ton of closed source C and C++ libraries out there - stuff with license fees and NDAs, tons of fiddly configuration options that are relevant to you - built with closed source and fiddly toolchains with incompatible ABIs for obscure platforms, sometimes with even more fiddly link ordering considerations... to say nothing of additional requirements for distribution. E.g. some of Microsoft's stuff prohibits "xcopy deployment" and instead requires you to run their installers instead - presumably to make their job easier when they want to roll out a security update. To try to slay this beast with abstraction is to try to slay a hydra. For every compiler or configuration option you decapitate, two more you hadn't considered before will come into view. Even when you constrain yourself to the single platform package managers, things are far from perfect. I've had nuget packages that can't handle the latest version of VS. I've seen apt lagging several versions behind the latest boost. They weren't built with the specific fiddly #define s that customize this for my needs. Upstream doesn't want your fiddly project-specific customizations, and legal has better things to do than verify you're not violating any NDAs by contributing back upstream... The "easy" option is to simply get really good at wrangling absolutely terrible build chains.