I would rather Linux just be able to detect what's missing and install it for me. In the case of a lot of missing components, what it says is missing will be named completely different from the package you need to install which makes it really hard.

That does happen, but Linux doesn't have anything to do with installing packages, your package manager does. If this package was installed through apt for example, it would also download all of the dependencies. But this package is using a makefile to build and install, therefore it has nothing to do with your package manager.

Tldr: use the package manager, and don't use DIY packages if you don't want to DIY

Additional package managers like flatpak and nix solve different issues:

• dependency mismatch: let's say libreoffice and this package require a different version of glibc -> flatpak downloads both versions and symlinks them in a different location in order for each package to have the correct version while not impacting your system and the glibc your DE is using

• newer packages: Debian freezes packages for 2+ years, flatpak gives you a fresh version

• easier packaging for developers: you can package for flatpak instead of having to maintain packages for every popular package manager and distro