Maybe it's worth a try. I've only got time to lose. I still struggle building anything from source, but I've fixed a lot of my (likely self generated) problems with google and the Mint Hexchat help.
Discussion
nothing taught me more about building from source than using Suckless software as my desktop environment. dwm, st terminal, and dmenu were all i used for years.
That looks like a solid way to get in way over my head lol
on the Linux side, for my sensibilities, Void linux is unmatched in stability and simplicity.