> we're talking about C/C++ code which doesn't have a package manager like you're probably used to
No, there are 3-4 suitable package managers [1] depending on what your bar for an acceptable package manager is. It's just C and C++ engineers have gone so long without one that they don't even think about it.
Honestly, we just need to start expecting more (and contributing more) with respect to unpackaged C and C++.
[1] vcpkg, Conan, nix, and spack off the top of my head
No, there are 3-4 suitable package managers [1] depending on what your bar for an acceptable package manager is. It's just C and C++ engineers have gone so long without one that they don't even think about it.
Honestly, we just need to start expecting more (and contributing more) with respect to unpackaged C and C++.
[1] vcpkg, Conan, nix, and spack off the top of my head