Right, but my experience is that Java (and a few others) have succeeded in this space. I actually wish that I could use maven to install system software rather than having to rely on something like apt.

I am intrigued by the experiences you have had which lead you to precisely the reverse conclusion to mine.

I wish that I could do literally anything else in my life but use maven.

Wow. My experience is that Java got it spectacularly wrong, with different tools stepping on each other constantly.