diff --git a/make/Makefile b/make/Makefile
index 5543d2d4..88b31d4a 100644
--- a/make/Makefile
+++ b/make/Makefile
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ include $(MODDIR)/make/dirs.mk
 endif
 endif
 
+include $(MODDIR)/make/dev-utils.mk
+
 ifeq ($(TARGET),mingw)
 install: $(INSTALL_MAKEDIR)/winres.rc.tmpl
 endif
diff --git a/make/conf.mk b/make/conf.mk
index 1e96bc3d..60f5758e 100644
--- a/make/conf.mk
+++ b/make/conf.mk
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 include $(MODDIR)/make/defs.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/rules.mk
+include $(MODDIR)/make/dev-utils.mk
 
 all:
 clean: clean.conf
diff --git a/make/defs.mk b/make/defs.mk
index 843b72bc..e0d1cfc1 100644
--- a/make/defs.mk
+++ b/make/defs.mk
@@ -1082,15 +1082,6 @@ all:
 
 nothing:
 
-echo-vars:
-	make -p nothing | grep -B1 "^[A-Z_]* *[?:+]*="
-
-echo-makefiles:
-	$(Q)strace -f make nothing 2>&1 | sed '/open\(at\)*(.*\(Makefile\|\.mk\)/ !d; s/.*open("//; s/.*openat([A-Z_]\+, "//; s/", O_.*//'
-
-cat-makefiles:
-	Q=@ make --no-print-directory echo-makefiles | while read f; do echo "# =================================================== $$f"; sed 's/^include/#cat include/' $$f; done
-
 doc-module:
 	$(BROWSER) $(JANWARE_URL_DOC_MODULE)
 
diff --git a/make/dev-utils.mk b/make/dev-utils.mk
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3a48faff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/make/dev-utils.mk
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+all:
+install:
+clean distclean:
+
+echo-vars:
+	make -p nothing | grep -B1 "^[A-Z_]* *[?:+]*="
+
+echo-makefiles:
+	$(Q)strace -f make nothing 2>&1 | sed '/open\(at\)*(.*\(Makefile\|\.mk\)/ !d; s/.*open("//; s/.*openat([A-Z_]\+, "//; s/", O_.*//'
+
+cat-makefiles:
+	Q=@ make --no-print-directory echo-makefiles | while read f; do echo "# =================================================== $$f"; sed 's/^include/#cat include/' $$f; done
+
+link-in:
+	DEVELOPMENT=false INSTALL_LINK=1 make install
+
+install-to-system:
+	sudo make DEVELOPMENT=false install
+	for s in $(RESTART_SERVICES); do \
+		sudo systemctl restart $$s ;\
+	done
+
+
diff --git a/make/exe.mk b/make/exe.mk
index 8cb2ed4f..8d25b96a 100644
--- a/make/exe.mk
+++ b/make/exe.mk
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 include $(MODDIR)/make/run.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/depend.mk
+include $(MODDIR)/make/dev-utils.mk
 
 all: $(EXE) $(BUILD_EXE_BIN) $(STRIP_DONE)
 install: $(INSTALLED_EXE) $(INSTALLED_EXE_BIN)
diff --git a/make/htdocs.mk b/make/htdocs.mk
index 2177c1d4..94912184 100644
--- a/make/htdocs.mk
+++ b/make/htdocs.mk
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ LESS_CPY                  ?= lesscpy
 include $(MODDIR)/make/defs.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/js.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/rules.mk
+include $(MODDIR)/make/dev-utils.mk
 
 all: $(LESS_GENERATED_CSS)
 install: install_HTML
diff --git a/make/include.mk b/make/include.mk
index 30ec75e0..f1ef203f 100644
--- a/make/include.mk
+++ b/make/include.mk
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 include $(MODDIR)/make/defs.mk
+include $(MODDIR)/make/dev-utils.mk
 
 # variables
 SRC_H        += $(PROJ_H) $(wildcard $(HDRDIR_SCOPE_SUFFIX)/*.h)
diff --git a/make/install-files.mk b/make/install-files.mk
index 87146125..1e7b3c6a 100644
--- a/make/install-files.mk
+++ b/make/install-files.mk
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@ SOURCE_BASE      ?= .
 
 RELPATHS          = $(foreach f,$(SOURCE_FILES),$(shell realpath -s --relative-to "$(SOURCE_BASE)" "$f"))
 INSTALLED_FILES   = $(addprefix $(TARGET_DIR)/,$(RELPATHS))
+
 include $(MODDIR)/make/defs.mk
+include $(MODDIR)/make/dev-utils.mk
 
 ifeq ($(DEVELOPMENT),true)
   TARGET_OWNER   ?= $(shell id -un)
diff --git a/make/lib.mk b/make/lib.mk
index ae47794d..9ba47be8 100644
--- a/make/lib.mk
+++ b/make/lib.mk
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 include $(MODDIR)/make/defs.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/rules.mk
+include $(MODDIR)/make/dev-utils.mk
 
 all:
 ifeq ($(USE_PROJECT_LIB),false)
diff --git a/make/plugin.mk b/make/plugin.mk
index 4d283b37..8307435d 100644
--- a/make/plugin.mk
+++ b/make/plugin.mk
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ include $(MODDIR)/make/plugin-defs.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/rules.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/depend.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/backup.mk
+include $(MODDIR)/make/dev-utils.mk
 
 LOCAL_CPPFLAGS += -D_PLUGIN
 LOCAL_CFLAGS   += -D_PLUGIN
diff --git a/make/py-mod.mk b/make/py-mod.mk
index 7d0054a8..645afb85 100644
--- a/make/py-mod.mk
+++ b/make/py-mod.mk
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 include $(MODDIR)/make/defs.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/py-defs.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/dirs.mk
+include $(MODDIR)/make/dev-utils.mk
 
 PY_INIT_TMPL = $(wildcard __init__.py.tmpl)
 PY_SED_EXTRACT_EXPORT ?= /\(class\|def\) ..*\# *export/ !d; s/\(class\|def\) *//; s/[(:].*//
@@ -17,9 +18,6 @@ py.clean:
 	$(RM) -f *.done *.pyc
 	/bin/bash $(MOD_SCRIPT_DIR)/scm.sh clean -f __init__.py
 
-link-in:
-	DEVELOPMENT=false INSTALL_SYMLINK=1 make install
-
 install-dirs.done:
 	$(INSTALL) -d -m $(PYMODDIRMODE) -o $(PYMODDIROWNER) -g $(PYMODDIRGROUP) $(PY_INSTALL_DIR)
 	touch $@
diff --git a/make/rules.mk b/make/rules.mk
index 2c13fad0..aa98dc73 100644
--- a/make/rules.mk
+++ b/make/rules.mk
@@ -61,15 +61,6 @@ installso: all checkroot install_dir_LIB $(INSTALLED_SHOBJS)
 
 installsh: all checkroot $(INSTALL_EXEDIR) $(INSTALLED_EXE_SH)
 
-link-in:
-	DEVELOPMENT=false INSTALL_LINK=1 make install
-
-install-to-system:
-	sudo make DEVELOPMENT=false install
-	for s in $(RESTART_SERVICES); do \
-		sudo systemctl restart $$s ;\
-	done
-
 pckgclean:
 	$(RM) -rf *.zip *.tar.gz *.rpm *.deb
 
diff --git a/make/scripts.mk b/make/scripts.mk
index 586ffa37..da541083 100644
--- a/make/scripts.mk
+++ b/make/scripts.mk
@@ -6,4 +6,4 @@
 include $(MODDIR)/make/defs.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/rules.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/scripts-targets.mk
-
+include $(MODDIR)/make/dev-utils.mk
diff --git a/make/svg.mk b/make/svg.mk
index 15741cad..c8a4bf65 100644
--- a/make/svg.mk
+++ b/make/svg.mk
@@ -50,5 +50,3 @@ copied-%.svg: $(SVG)
 
 %.ico: %.png
 	icotool -o $@ -c $<
-
-
diff --git a/make/swig.mk b/make/swig.mk
index 8a51a879..5c40eca3 100644
--- a/make/swig.mk
+++ b/make/swig.mk
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 include $(MODDIR)/make/defs.mk
+include $(MODDIR)/make/dev-utils.mk
 
 ifeq ($(SWIG_TARGET),php)
 
diff --git a/make/tools.mk b/make/tools.mk
index 5838d8c1..e69d6dae 100644
--- a/make/tools.mk
+++ b/make/tools.mk
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ include $(MODDIR)/make/targets-tools.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/cpp-extra-targets.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/depend.mk
 include $(MODDIR)/make/backup.mk
+include $(MODDIR)/make/dev-utils.mk
 
 LOCAL_CFLAGS     += -D_USRDLL -DALL_EXPORTS
 LOCAL_CPPFLAGS   += -D_USRDLL -DALL_EXPORTS