@westfw
Well i'm not after a substitution of the current java compile with a makefile. I just like to keep an alternative, when not working with the IDE.
It's not that I like makefiles, but for microcontroller programming is still not too hard to use it - IMHO.
Although I frequently forget important makefile knowledge... 
Speaking of it, i think there is a dependency erro in my makefile. Did anybody try it?
Cproto is interesting, thanks! Maybe mellis will use it in the IDE?
But as long as it's not a standard install on unix systems I wouldn't want to use it in a makefile.
On the other hand I think using a makefile, even if it's only in the background of an IDE, is a better standard than doing some custom java-based compile process in the IDE, like it's now. Esp. for maintainance between different IDE versions a certain compile standard could be better...
Of coruse, I agree that the Ardunio goodness comes with the current software and IDE!
But I think it's also good, that the Ardunio IDE doesn't allow too much simplification of C code.
I think the current state of preprocessing is a perfect compromise.
I hope it won't walk away any further from standard avr-gcc C code. Incorporating an alternative language than C, though, would be again a different question. E.g. ruby arduino developement: http://rad.rubyforge.org/