diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index ecdae2b..e6d6a04 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,12 +1,3 @@
-# Taken from: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2214575/passing-arguments-to-make-run
-# If the first argument is "new"...
-ifeq (new,$(firstword $(MAKECMDGOALS)))
-  # use the rest as arguments for "new"
-  NEW_ARGS := $(wordlist 2,$(words $(MAKECMDGOALS)),$(MAKECMDGOALS))
-  # ...and turn them into do-nothing targets
-  $(eval $(NEW_ARGS):;@:)
-endif
-
 BIN := $(shell basename $$(pwd))
 PLUGINS := $(wildcard modules/*)
 
@@ -65,9 +56,6 @@ $(BIN): $(OBJS)
 
 -include $(DEPS)
 
-new:
-	@./newmodule $(NEW_ARGS)
-
 modules: $(PLUGINS)
 	mkdir -p plugins
 	@for plug in $(PLUGINS) ;\
diff --git a/Makefile.unified b/Makefile.unified
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3927ffe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile.unified
@@ -0,0 +1,287 @@
+include premake.make
+
+# dir name becomes product name
+PROJ := $(shell basename $$(pwd))
+
+# find out what platform we're on
+UNAME_S := $(shell uname -s)
+
+# git commit hash and version for this build
+COMMIT-HASH != git log 2>/dev/null | sed -e '1s/^commit //;q'
+COMMIT := "const char* commit = \"$(COMMIT-HASH)\";"
+VERSION := "const char* version = \"$(MAJOR).$(MINOR).$(PATCH)\";"
+
+# some important install locations
+PREFIX ?= /usr/local
+BINDIR ?= $(PREFIX)/bin
+CONFIGDIR ?= $(PREFIX)/etc
+INCLUDEDIR ?= $(PREFIX)/include
+LIBDIR ?= $(PREFIX)/lib
+MANDIR ?= $(PREFIX)/man
+DATADIR ?= $(PREFIX)/share
+DOCDIR ?= $(DATADIR)/$(PROJ)/doc
+
+# setup naming and versioning for library product
+ifeq ($(UNAME_S), Darwin)
+	LINKERNAME := $(PROJ).dylib
+	SONAME := $(PROJ).$(MAJOR).dylib
+	REALNAME := $(LINKERNAME)
+else ifeq ($(UNAME_S), OpenBSD)
+	REALNAME := $(PROJ).so.$(MAJOR).$(MINOR)
+else ifeq ($(UNAME_S), Linux)
+	LINKERNAME := $(PROJ).so
+	SONAME := $(LINKERNAME).$(MAJOR)
+	REALNAME := $(SONAME).$(MINOR).$(PATCH)
+endif
+STATICLIB := $(PROJ).a
+
+# select default compiler
+CXX ?= g++
+
+# setup compiler flags and build config
+CXXFLAGS += -Wshadow -Wall -Wpedantic -Wextra -Wno-unused-parameter
+CXXFLAGS += -g3 -std=c++20 -fPIC
+ifeq ($(DEBUG), 1)
+	CXXFLAGS += -D DEBUG -O0
+	CONFIG := debug
+else
+	CXXFLAGS += -D NDEBUG -O3
+	CONFIG := release
+endif
+
+# setup build locations
+OUTDIR := build/$(CONFIG)
+BUILDDIR := build/obj
+BIN := $(OUTDIR)/$(PROJ)
+
+# define sources and derived files
+# allow for extra sources defined in premake.make
+SRCS += $(notdir $(wildcard src/*.cpp))
+OBJS := $(addprefix $(BUILDDIR)/, $(SRCS:.cpp=.o))
+DEPS := $(addprefix $(BUILDDIR)/, $(SRCS:.cpp=.dep))
+HDRS ?= $(wildcard src/*.hpp)
+MANS := $(addprefix $(PREFIX)/, $(wildcard man/man*/*))
+
+# if project supports plugins, link to libdl where needed
+ifdef PLUGINS
+ifeq ($(UNAME_S),Darwin)
+	LDLIBS += -ldl
+else ifeq ($(UNAME_S),Linux)
+	LDLIBS += -ldl
+endif
+endif
+
+# pattern rules ===========================================================
+
+$(BUILDDIR)/%.o: src/%.cpp
+ifeq ($(PRECOMPILE), 1)
+	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -o $@ -include precomp.hpp -MMD -MP -MT $@ -MF $(BUILDDIR)/$*.dep -c $<
+else
+	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -o $@ -MMD -MP -MT $@ -MF $(BUILDDIR)/$*.dep -c $<
+endif
+
+%.dep: ;
+
+$(MANDIR)/man1/%: man/man1/%
+	install -m 0644 $< $@
+
+$(MANDIR)/man3/%: man/man3/%
+	install -m 0644 $< $@
+
+$(MANDIR)/man5/%: man/man5/%
+	install -m 0644 $< $@
+
+# =========================================================== pattern rules
+
+# targets =================================================================
+
+.PHONY: all commit-hash version plugins test clean dist-clean install-plugins install uninstall-plugins uninstall
+
+# main target
+ifeq ($(PRODUCT), tool)
+all: $(BUILDDIR) $(OUTDIR) commit-hash version plugins $(BIN)
+else ifeq ($(PRODUCT), lib)
+all: $(BUILDDIR) $(OUTDIR) commit-hash version plugins $(OUTDIR)/$(REALNAME) $(OUTDIR)/$(STATICLIB)
+endif
+
+$(BUILDDIR):
+	mkdir -p $@
+
+$(OUTDIR):
+	mkdir -p $@
+
+# product build rules
+ifeq ($(PRODUCT), tool) # -------------------------------------------- tool
+
+ifeq ($(PRECOMPILE), 1)
+$(BIN): precomp.hpp.gch $(OBJS)
+else
+$(BIN): $(OBJS)
+endif
+	$(CXX) -o $(BIN) $(LDFLAGS) $(OBJS) $(LDLIBS)
+	@ln -sf $(BIN) $(PROJ)
+
+endif # -------------------------------------------------------------- tool
+
+ifeq ($(PRODUCT), lib) # ---------------------------------------------- lib
+
+ifeq ($(PRECOMPILE), 1)
+$(OUTDIR)/$(REALNAME): precomp.hpp.gch $(OBJS)
+else
+$(OUTDIR)/$(REALNAME): $(OBJS)
+endif
+ifeq ($(UNAME_S),Darwin)
+	$(CXX) -dynamiclib -o $(OUTDIR)/$(REALNAME) -current_version $(MAJOR) -compatibility_version $(MINOR) $(LDFLAGS) $(OBJS) $(LDLIBS)
+else ifeq ($(UNAME_S),OpenBSD)
+	$(CXX) -g -shared -Wl,-soname,$(REALNAME) -o $(OUTDIR)/$(REALNAME) $(LDFLAGS) $(OBJS) $(LDLIBS)
+else ifeq ($(UNAME_S),Linux)
+	$(CXX) -g -shared -Wl,-soname,$(SONAME) -o $(OUTDIR)/$(REALNAME) $(LDFLAGS) $(OBJS) $(LDLIBS)
+endif
+
+$(OUTDIR)/$(STATICLIB): $(OBJS)
+	ar r $(OUTDIR)/$(STATICLIB) $(OBJS)
+
+ifeq ($(GENERATELIBHEADER),1)
+$(OUTDIR)/$(PROJ).hpp: $(HDRS)
+	@echo updating $(OUTDIR)/$(PROJ).hpp
+	@cp /dev/null $(OUTDIR)/$(PROJ).hpp
+	@for h in $(HDRS); \
+	do \
+		sed '/@exclude/d' $$h >> $(OUTDIR)/$(PROJ).hpp; \
+	done
+endif
+
+endif # --------------------------------------------------------------- lib
+
+# get generated dependencies, if any
+-include $(DEPS)
+
+commit-hash:
+	@if ! echo $(COMMIT) | diff -q src/commit.inc - >/dev/null 2>&1 ;\
+	then \
+		echo $(COMMIT) > src/commit.inc ;\
+	fi
+
+version:
+	@if ! echo $(VERSION) | diff -q src/version.inc - >/dev/null 2>&1 ;\
+	then \
+		echo $(VERSION) > src/version.inc ;\
+	fi
+
+$(BUILDDIR)/version.o: src/version.inc src/commit.inc
+
+precomp.hpp.gch: src/precomp.hpp
+	$(CXX) $< $(CXXFLAGS) -o $@
+
+plugins:
+ifdef PLUGINS
+	@for plug in $(PLUGINS) ;\
+	do \
+		$(MAKE) -C $$plug ;\
+	done
+else
+	;
+endif
+
+test:
+	$(MAKE) -C tests && tests/tests
+
+clean:
+	rm -rf $(BUILDDIR) tests/build tests/tests tests/src/commit.inc tests/src/version.inc
+ifdef PLUGINS
+	@for plug in $(PLUGINS) ;\
+	do \
+		$(MAKE) -C $$plug clean ;\
+	done
+endif
+
+dist-clean: clean
+	rm -rf build $(PROJ) src/commit.inc src/version.inc precomp.hpp.pch
+
+$(MANDIR)/man1:
+	install -m 0755 -d $@
+
+$(MANDIR)/man3:
+	install -m 0755 -d $@
+
+$(MANDIR)/man5:
+	install -m 0755 -d $@
+
+# (un)install targets
+
+install-plugins:
+ifdef PLUGINS
+	@for plug in $(PLUGINS) ;\
+	do \
+		$(MAKE) -C $$plug install ;\
+	done
+else
+	;
+endif
+
+uninstall-plugins:
+ifdef PLUGINS
+	@for plug in $(PLUGINS) ;\
+	do \
+		$(MAKE) -C $$plug uninstall ;\
+	done
+else
+	;
+endif
+
+ifeq ($(PRODUCT), tool) # -------------------------------------------- tool
+
+$(BINDIR):
+	install -m 0755 -d $@
+
+install: $(MANDIR)/man1 $(MANDIR)/man3 $(MANDIR)/man5 $(BINDIR) $(MANS) install-plugins
+	install -m 0755 $(BIN) $(BINDIR)
+
+uninstall: uninstall-plugins
+	rm -f $(BINDIR)/$(PROJ) $(MANS)
+
+endif # -------------------------------------------------------------- tool
+
+ifeq ($(PRODUCT), lib) # ---------------------------------------------- lib
+
+$(LIBDIR):
+	install -m 0755 -d $@
+
+$(INCLUDEDIR):
+	install -m 0755 -d $@
+
+$(INCLUDEDIR)/$(PROJ):
+	install -m 0755 -d $@
+
+ifeq ($(GENERATELIBHEADER), 1)
+install: $(MANDIR)/man1 $(MANDIR)/man3 $(MANDIR)/man5 $(LIBDIR) $(INCLUDEDIR) $(MANS) $(OUTDIR)/$(PROJ).hpp install-plugins
+	install -m 0644 $(OUTDIR)/$(PROJ).hpp $(INCLUDEDIR)
+else
+install: $(MANDIR)/man1 $(MANDIR)/man3 $(MANDIR)/man5 $(LIBDIR) $(INCLUDEDIR) $(MANS) $(INCLUDEDIR)/$(PROJ) install-plugins
+	install -m 0644 $(HDRS) $(INCLUDEDIR)/$(PROJ)
+endif
+	install -m 0644 $(OUTDIR)/$(REALNAME) $(LIBDIR)
+	install -m 0644 $(OUTDIR)/$(STATICLIB) $(LIBDIR)
+ifeq ($(UNAME_S), Darwin)
+	cd $(LIBDIR) && ln -sf $(REALNAME) $(SONAME)
+else ifeq ($(UNAME_S), Linux)
+	ldconfig
+	cd $(LIBDIR) && ln -sf $(SONAME) $(LINKERNAME)
+else ifeq ($(UNAME_S), OpenBSD)
+	ldconfig -R
+endif
+
+uninstall: uninstall-plugins
+	rm -rf $(INCLUDEDIR)/$(PROJ).hpp $(INCLUDEDIR)/$(PROJ) $(MANS) $(LIBDIR)/$(STATICLIB) $(LIBDIR)/$(REALNAME) $(LIBDIR)/$(SONAME) $(LIBDIR)/$(LINKERNAME)
+ifeq ($(UNAME_S), Linux)
+	ldconfig
+else ifeq ($(UNAME_S), OpenBSD)
+	ldconfig -R
+endif
+
+endif # --------------------------------------------------------------- lib
+
+# ================================================================= targets
+
+# project-specific targets go in here
+-include postmake.make
diff --git a/newmodule b/newmodule
index f33e228..dfbc7a0 100755
--- a/newmodule
+++ b/newmodule
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 mkdir modules/$1
-cp skeleton/Makefile modules/$1/
+cp skeleton/Makefile skeleton/premake.make modules/$1/
 sed -e "s/{MODULE}/$1/" skeleton/MODULE.hpp > modules/$1/$1.hpp
 sed -e "s/{MODULE}/$1/" skeleton/MODULE.cpp > modules/$1/$1.cpp
diff --git a/postmake.make b/postmake.make
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cd6a0f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/postmake.make
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# Taken from: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2214575/passing-arguments-to-make-run
+# If the first argument is "new"...
+ifeq (new,$(firstword $(MAKECMDGOALS)))
+  # use the rest as arguments for "new"
+  NEW_ARGS := $(wordlist 2,$(words $(MAKECMDGOALS)),$(MAKECMDGOALS))
+  # ...and turn them into do-nothing targets
+  $(eval $(NEW_ARGS):;@:)
+endif
+
+new:
+	@./newmodule $(NEW_ARGS)
diff --git a/premake.make b/premake.make
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2c6938c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/premake.make
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+LDLIBS := -lm -lscgui -lcairo -lscerror -lscstring -lscscreensaver -lscnumerics
+
+LDLIBS += $(shell pkg-config sdl2 --libs)
+CXXFLAGS += $(shell pkg-config sdl2 --cflags)
+
+PRODUCT := tool
+
+MAJOR := 1
+MINOR := 0
+PATCH := 0
+
+PRECOMPILE := 0
+
+MAKE += --no-print-directory
+PLUGINS := $(wildcard modules/*)
diff --git a/skeleton/Makefile b/skeleton/Makefile
index cd973c8..c22234e 100644
--- a/skeleton/Makefile
+++ b/skeleton/Makefile
@@ -1,62 +1,53 @@
-LIBNAME := $(shell basename $$(pwd))
-MAJOR := 1
-MINOR := 0.0
+include premake.make
 
-UNAME_S := $(shell uname -s)
-
-ifeq ($(UNAME_S),Darwin)
-	LINKERNAME := $(LIBNAME).dylib
-	SONAME := $(LIBNAME).$(MAJOR).dylib
-	REALNAME := $(LINKERNAME)
-else
-	LINKERNAME := $(LIBNAME).so
-	SONAME := $(LINKERNAME).$(MAJOR)
-	REALNAME := $(SONAME).$(MINOR)
-endif
-
-PREFIX ?= ../..
-LIBDIR ?= $(PREFIX)/plugins
+# some important install locations
+PREFIX ?= /usr/local
+DATADIR ?= $(PREFIX)/share
+INSTALLDIR ?= $(DATADIR)/$(INSTALLDIRNAME)
 
 SRCS := $(wildcard *.cpp)
-OBJS := $(subst .cpp,.o,$(SRCS))
-DEPS := $(subst .cpp,.d,$(SRCS))
-HDRS := $(filter-out $(LIBNAME).hpp,$(wildcard *.hpp))
+OBJS := $(SRCS:.cpp=.o)
+DEPS := $(SRCS:.cpp=.dep)
 
 CXX ?= g++
 
-CXXFLAGS += -Wshadow -Wall -Wpedantic -Wextra -g -std=c++17 -fPIC
+CXXFLAGS += -Wshadow -Wall -Wpedantic -Wextra -Wno-unused-parameter
+CXXFLAGS += -g3 -std=c++20 -fPIC
 ifeq ($(DEBUG),1)
 	CXXFLAGS += -D DEBUG -O0
 else
 	CXXFLAGS += -D NDEBUG -O3
 endif
 
-LDLIBS := -lcairo -lscscreensaver
+%.o: %.cpp
+	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -o $@ -MMD -MP -MT $@ -MF $*.dep -c $<
 
-RM := /bin/rm -f
-INSTALL := /usr/bin/install -c
+%.dep: ;
 
-.PHONY: all clean install
+.PHONY: all clean install uninstall
 
-all: $(REALNAME)
+all: $(PLUGIN)
 
-$(REALNAME): $(OBJS) $(DEPS)
+$(PLUGIN): $(OBJS)
 ifeq ($(UNAME_S),Darwin)
-	$(CXX) -dynamiclib -o $(REALNAME) -current_version $(MAJOR) -compatibility_version $(MINOR) $(LDFLAGS) $(LDLIBS) $(OBJS)
+	$(CXX) -g3 -dynamiclib -o $(PLUGIN) $(LDFLAGS) $(OBJS) $(LDLIBS)
 else
-	$(CXX) -g -shared -Wl,-soname,$(SONAME) -o $(REALNAME) $(LDFLAGS) $(LDLIBS) $(OBJS)
+	$(CXX) -g3 -shared -o $(PLUGIN) $(LDFLAGS) $(OBJS) $(LDLIBS)
 endif
 
-%.o: %.cpp %.d Makefile
-	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -MMD -MP -MT $@ -MF $*.d -c $<
-
--include *.d
-
-%.d: ;
+-include $(DEPS)
 
 clean:
-	$(RM) $(OBJS) $(DEPS) $(REALNAME)
+	rm -f $(OBJS) $(DEPS) $(PLUGIN)
 
-install: $(REALNAME)
-	$(INSTALL) -d $(LIBDIR)
-	$(INSTALL) -m 644 $(REALNAME) $(LIBDIR)/$(LIBNAME).saver
+$(INSTALLDIR):
+	install -m 0755 -d $@
+
+install: $(INSTALLDIR)
+	install -m 0644 $(PLUGIN) $(INSTALLDIR)
+ifdef EXTRAFILES
+	install -m 0644 $(EXTRAFILES) $(INSTALLDIR)
+endif
+
+uninstall:
+	rm -f $(INSTALLDIR)/$(PLUGIN) $(addprefix $(INSTALLDIR)/, $(EXTRAFILES))
diff --git a/skeleton/premake.make b/skeleton/premake.make
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ec5846f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/skeleton/premake.make
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+LDLIBS := -lcairo -lscscreensaver
+UNAME_S := $(shell uname -s)
+PROJ := $(shell basename $$(pwd))
+PLUGIN := $(PROJ).saver
+INSTALLDIRNAME := screensaver/plugins
+EXTRAFILES :=