For starters, ffmpeg does not use raw Makefile; it has to be generated by running configure. Historically configure (and autoconf etc.) was required due to the

For starters, ffmpeg does not use raw Makefile; it has to be generated by running configure. Historically configure (and autoconf etc.) was required due to the variety of platforms to support, which is increasingly less relevant today. The real "raw" Makefile---where you are supposed to run just `make` to build---is not as cumbersome as you may think; even the dependency among source files can be automatically generated.