There are some dangerous and subtle problems with this tutorial. In order to handle long options and empty short options, when searching MAKEFLAGS you really n

There are some dangerous and subtle problems with this tutorial. In order to handle long options and empty short options, when searching MAKEFLAGS you really need to do: ifneq (,$(findstring t,$(firstword -$(MAKEFLAGS)))) If you need compatibility with the ancient version of `make` shipped by default on OS X, not that it is missing a lot of functions and features, some subtly. Most other problems are either obvious typos or due to violating best-practice style, so I won't go into them. Note also that `load` is actually more portable than `guile`, but make sure you use the correct compiler in case you're cross-compiling the main project. *** Really you should just read Paul's Rules of Makefiles [1], then the GNU make manual [2]. Some of the other manuals related to GNU build tools are also relevant even if you aren't using the particular tool. I also have a demo project [3] if you just want something that works and isn't complicated. [1]: https://make.mad-scientist.net/papers/rules-of-makefiles/ https://make.mad-scientist.net/papers/rules-of-makefiles/ [2]: https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/ https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/ [3]: https://github.com/o11c/makefile-demo https://github.com/o11c/makefile-demo