I really like using make for data pipelines as you suggest, and thanks for pointing out your package.

In this pipeline use case, you have base data, and a series of transformations that massage it into usable results. You are always revising the pipeline, usually at the output end (but not always) so you want to skip as many preprocessing steps as possible. Make automates all that.

This works great for image processing pipelines, science data pipelines, and physical simulators for a few examples.

There have been a few blog posts and ensuing HN discussions about this use pattern for make. The discussion generally gets mixed up between make’s use as a build system for code, alas.