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Make is popular because many old projects use it and it comes pre-installed on Linux. It's a cultural thing.

• t43562 3y ago
  It works on an enormous number of platforms with few dependencies. People have got these projects which build on everything from embedded platforms to mainframes and it has taken effort from many different people to achieve that. So you might come up with some new thing that "Works For Me" and now all those people who are peacefully using the tool on their whatever platform have to fiddle with it to make it work again - or the person who made it work is no longer around and that platform loses support for the new versions. When you say "cultural" you make it sound like people do things because they are ignorant and resistant to change but it's worth at least considering that their point of view is quite different.