None of that requires conda to be able to do. Can also build in a chroot, without needing an unconventionally configured compiler, if you want to make your bina

None of that requires conda to be able to do. Can also build in a chroot, without needing an unconventionally configured compiler, if you want to make your binaries redistributable - which is a requirement some users will have but not all. "Easy availability of gcc 7.2 on CentOS 6" doesn't require being able to build for centos 6 from something newer, docker or chroot tools are fine for that.