cmake is a replacement for the autotools suite, not make itself. You're right that it can be tricky to use. One advantage cmake has is that you can tell it to

cmake is a replacement for the autotools suite, not make itself. You're right that it can be tricky to use. One advantage cmake has is that you can tell it to emit files for ninja instead of traditional Makefiles. ninja is very well optimized for the problem of parallel building.