I use vim, git and a build script. I add new plugins as github links for pathogen. All of my plugins and settings are deleted and rebuilt using the build script and git pull. No issues setting this up between home and work and I have too hold back from laughing when I see what my coworkers using eclipse have to put up with every day.
Basically he went from "I don't know how to build Eclipse plugins" to "they are too hard to build". I don't know how hard they are to build, but it seems there are some steps missing.
And most FOSS uses Autotools these days, so installation is just ./configure && make && sudo make install
I'm not saying it's particularly hard, I'm saying it should be easy as hell.
Until recently, this was the number one reason keeping me off of Linux. (The nightmare of recompiling PHP just to get support for specific extensions) Fortunately with the popularity of package managers, I rarely run into a project I can't build from source.