I try to use Make to bootstrap project-specific tooling when missing, by getting it to download (then verify) the tools, then delegate everything else to something like knit (or just/cargo/npm).

That way, there's very few prerequisites for a new dev to install (plus you have consistent build/test/run targets for all projects).

If someone wants to manage tools themselves (e.g, the no prebuilt binaries example), they can do that, then skip the Makefile entirely.