For what it's worth, I've also encountered the insanity of build systems when using third-party libraries. At this point I am so fed up with them, that I typically try to "just build the source". This doesn't work all the time, but I was positively surprised how well this approach works.

Most libraries really just need some include paths and some preprocessor defines. E.g. https://github.com/W4RH4WK/Anker/blob/main/external/box2d/CM...

Sure, I am using CMake here, but the actual instructions for building the library is plain and simple and can easily be replicated in any build system.