I build embedded software for profit only and I can say with certainty the 98% of all computers out there are not desktops and do not use desktop operating systems. For those systems, the autotools, modern optimizing compilers, and modern tooling like distributed ccache are a godsend. Of course, back in the 1990s similar software was fast to build because your cross-assembler didn't have to worry about on-chip cache or superscalar architectures, but ye gods the code PTSD flashbacks begin.