I disagree with such opposing view. 25 libraries would be a nightmare to get in just the right version, and specifically compiling a program with many libraries that aren't already compiled in Windows is usually a nightmare (at least with VC++, which I guess is what these guys are using together with Scons?), to compile the software. The idea that Chrome would automatically update in case one of such libraries changed, is probably not very convenient either as such updates could also break the code (because of changes in the interfaces for example, or in the behavior of libraries... while it's not very probable for each library, it becomes quite probable when you have 20+ libraries).