Related: scikit-build seems to have quite a bit of momentum. I've never used CMake before, and while I know opinions on CMake aren't 100% positive, scikit-build looks like a significant improvement over distutils. I think we should try to integrate it at some point in the coming year.

It looks like you have to have CMake installed though (http://scikit-build.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installation.html). This is a hurdle in itself.