I think it also has to do with the stackoverflow effect.

Tools that gain traction today are those that can be learned incrementally by doing a google search and copy pasting a solution, one problem at a time.

Out are all those systems that have an underlying theory to them that has to be mastered first. As pointed out elsewhere, there is a perfectly good manual for make[1] that you can read.

My theory is that it has to do with shortened attention spans, and impatience perhaps bred by constant use of technologies with short stimulus response cycles [2].

[1] https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/make.html#Introduct... [2] Cellphones.