In C and C++ you don't need the transitive dependencies for compilation, you only need the header of the direct dependencies. As for linking they are only needed when linking dynamically, which was much less prevalent 20 years ago.

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saulpw 3 days ago | parent [-]

It's not about compilation, it's about interactions, and leaky abstractions.

	▲	1718627440 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		This then means that the problem is more the quality of the library itself and not the package manager/dependency resolver/build system. You can have leaky abstractions just fine when all you do is add a single binary static library with nothing else going on.