Advice needed for multi-distro, simple configuration methods

[M. Fioretti]

Greetings,

for fun or profit, I have to keep using several Linux distributions,
both desktops and servers. Besides Ubuntu, I mostly deal with CentOS,
Debian and Fedora, and others sometimes.

On all these distributions, I would need to quickly set up:

a) the same set of configuration parameters for some programs
   (e.g. bash, mutt, i3 or other window managers,...)

b) some Bash, Perl or python scripts I wrote myself

c) a few non-default programs (e.g. skype, hugo website generator...)

d) Perl/Python modules, or other libraries needed by the above tools

Problem is, the situation on Linux seems WORST than it was 10/15 years
ago. Back then, the choice was only between binary packages or
makefiles. Today... It may be just my own peculiar case, but it seems
every extra tool that *I* need comes from its own world, that does not
talk with the others. Pip, snap, cpan, static binaries with their own
installation procedure, sandboxes... A mess, really. From "dependency
hell" to "multiple packaging&install systems hell"

Ideally, I would need a method to set up all this automatically,
whenever I install, or get to administer, some version of Linux.

To me, my problem seems too much for a shell script, but too little
for a full configuration management system, eg ansible, or stuff like
that. What do you think? How would you handle having to often, quickly
install just 8/10 programs or modules, but each from its own packaging
world, on different Linux distributions?

I don't mind studying documentation, I'm not sure **what** I should
study. Assuming there IS a solution for this kind of problem...

TIA,
Marco
-- 
M. Fioretti http://mfioretti.com                   http://stop.zona-m.net

Your own civil rights and the quality of your life heavily depend on how
software is used *around* you