[aikah]

> Does make bring out people's conservative side or something?

Misuse of tools in software development is why we end up with broken software, useless solutions that solve stupid problems because the problem wasn't well understood as first place, and first and foremost unnecessary dependencies. That's why we end up with this makefile "hack".

Now explain what it's got to do with "conservatism". bad practices != innovation .

[solipsism]

Do you really believe any use of a tool in a way that wasn't intended is a "bad practice"? Is there no more subtlety or thought to it than that? This adherence to an ultra-simplistic black-and-white rule is absolutely a form of conservatism.

If you think this particular use of make is a "bad practice", then argue why it is! If there's no better reason than "This use isn't as intended!" then your opinion won't have much weight with people.