PHONY: comment
    comment:
      TEXT=“yes, I also wonder why people don’t use simple makefiles” $(MAKE) publish
    publish:
      echo “$(TEXT)”

Some “simple” things like passing arguments to a task become incredibly complex.

I’ve been playing around with https://github.com/casey/just and so far it’s been very pleasant.

The reason I prefer xc to makefiles is it is more discoverable I think, when you have a project with a Makefile you often have some documentation in the README that outlines what each Makefile command does. I thought why not cut out the middle man!

Mostly preference from what I can see. Some people don't like parts of how make works.

Personally I have no problems with makefiles but I see the appeal.

If you like to use make as a task runner, may I recommend you take a look at my entry into the ecosystem:

* https://github.com/TekWizely/run

Feels like make (by design) but purpose-built for managing small tasks.