When I was in my twenties, I read up on everything possible in the tool chain. I was fascinated by the technology. As my experience grew, my patience with grotty details declined. Things like running the tool chain manually lost their fascination. After 50 years, I like to focus my time on solving the problem, not solving the problems (or meta-problems) in how to solve the problem. I want to solder connections using a temperature-controlled soldering station; I do not want to design a soldering iron, compute the length and gauge of the nichrome wire used in the heating element, figure out how to add a temperature sensor, and write the firmware for the soldering-iron control, when my goal is to make a solid connection between two wires.
The best part about "the good old days of computing": they are in the past.
I like it that way.
joe