So much this. I using Preact and still have to manually fish out files from build folders in Git repos just to have a usable library to import directly, because somehow “npm install” became the status quo.
For small personal projects I just use git submodules[1] and symlinks, and I still haven't regretted it.
Maybe it's because I set `submodule.recurse true` and `push.recurseSubmodules check`, but I still haven't found the reason why they get so much hate. I started using them (only on personal projects) partly to find out by myself what all that was about.
For $DAYJOB I obviously go with what's mainstream and "best practices", but on personal projects I try to experiment and challenge assumptions to see how much I can simplify stuff, and what decisions I come to regret 6 months down the line.
I either learn that some things are not as bad as others say; or I learn more about the specific pains caused by not following some advice (so I'll have more context on when it shouldn't be applied).
[1]: Pointing to my own mirrors. Because not owning your dependencies is a recipe for disaster.