I think the mere fact that use of log4j is so wide-spread answers your first question. It's not that simple to do it (well) yourself. That said, I do agree tha

I think the mere fact that use of log4j is so wide-spread answers your first question. It's not that simple to do it (well) yourself. That said, I do agree that there is a problem with large dependency trees. It seems building a simple hello-world app with Maven ends up downloading about 1/2 the internet. :)