Well, let's try this again. I have looked more deeply, and it's amazing what you have achieved.
I am left with my concerns about the interface that this scripting offers, but maybe by adding cl-launch (to remove the makefile layer), and providing better interaction for the user (completion + documentation), we can get this to the point where it would be a good solution.
A remaining problem is that now getting an ASDF development environment starts to be more difficult. How are we to manage installing the dependencies if the ASDF development head is going to be *ahead* of the state of Quicklisp (and, I believe now, *incompatibly* ahead)?
It was already difficult for me using the bump script, but most of the makefile required only ASDF and a standard Linux or Mac + MacPorts|Homebrew install. I'm just worried about circular dependencies if we need to get a bunch of CL libraries to make this turn over.
Cheers, r