diff --git a/.cmake/CheckDependencies.cmake b/.cmake/CheckDependencies.cmake
deleted file mode 100644
index e34a8da9c..000000000
--- a/.cmake/CheckDependencies.cmake
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-function(ensure_library_exists libname)
-    get_property(ALL_LINK_DIRS DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR} PROPERTY LINK_DIRECTORIES)
-    foreach(CURRENT_LINK_DIR ${ALL_LINK_DIRS})
-        unset(__TEMP_ENSURE_LIBRARY CACHE)
-        find_library(
-            __TEMP_ENSURE_LIBRARY
-            NAMES ${libname}
-            PATHS ${CURRENT_LINK_DIR} ${VENDOR_LINK_DIRECTORIES})
-        if(NOT __TEMP_ENSURE_LIBRARY)
-            #message(STATUS "[check-dependencies] ${libname} not found")
-        else()
-            message(STATUS "[check-dependencies] ${libname} found at ${__TEMP_ENSURE_LIBRARY}")
-            return()
-        endif()
-    endforeach()
-    message(FATAL_ERROR "\n\n[check-dependencies] ${libname} not found\n\n")
-endfunction(ensure_library_exists)
diff --git a/.cmake/ConfigureStandalone.cmake b/.cmake/ConfigureStandalone.cmake
index 44e221c95..871378563 100644
--- a/.cmake/ConfigureStandalone.cmake
+++ b/.cmake/ConfigureStandalone.cmake
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ if (${BUILD_STANDALONE} MATCHES "true")
     "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/vendor/lame-bin/include"
     "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/vendor/libmicrohttpd-bin/include"
     "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/vendor/zlib-bin/include"
-    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/vendor/curl-bin/include")
+    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/vendor/curl-bin/include"
+    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/vendor/ncurses-bin/include")
 
   list(
     APPEND
@@ -23,7 +24,8 @@ if (${BUILD_STANDALONE} MATCHES "true")
     "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/vendor/lame-bin/lib"
     "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/vendor/libmicrohttpd-bin/lib"
     "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/vendor/zlib-bin/lib"
-    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/vendor/curl-bin/lib")
+    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/vendor/curl-bin/lib"
+    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/vendor/ncurses-bin/lib")
 else()
     message(STATUS "[standalone-build] *NOT* enabled!")
 endif()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 026ae4715..c2dedd123 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ set (EXECUTABLE_OUTPUT_PATH ${musikcube_SOURCE_DIR}/bin)
 
 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/.cmake)
 include(CMakeToolsHelpers OPTIONAL)
-include(CheckDependencies)
 include(CheckAtomic)
 include(ConfigureRpath)
 include(ConfigureStandalone)
@@ -45,7 +44,6 @@ message(STATUS "[boost] libs: " ${Boost_LIBRARIES})
 message(STATUS "[boost] includes: " ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 
 if (${BUILD_STANDALONE} MATCHES "true")
-  target_include_directories(musikcube BEFORE PRIVATE ${VENDOR_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES})
   find_library(LIBCURL NAMES curl PATHS ${VENDOR_LINK_DIRECTORIES} NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
 else()
   find_library(LIBCURL NAMES curl)
diff --git a/script/bootstrap-static-vendors.sh b/script/bootstrap-static-vendors.sh
index 0c2b1df31..7034fe3b9 100755
--- a/script/bootstrap-static-vendors.sh
+++ b/script/bootstrap-static-vendors.sh
@@ -9,9 +9,26 @@ if [[ "$PLATFORM" == 'Darwin' ]]; then
     export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="${PKG_CONFIG_PATH}:/opt/homebrew/opt/openssl/lib/pkgconfig/"
 fi
 
+NCURSES_TERMINFO=
+if [[ "$PLATFORM" == 'Linux' ]]; then
+    NCURSES_TERMINFO="--with-terminfo-dirs=/etc/terminfo:/lib/terminfo:/usr/share/terminfo"
+fi
+
 export CFLAGS="-fPIC"
 export CXXFLAGS="-fPIC"
 
+#
+# ncurses
+#
+https://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/ncurses/ncurses-6.3.tar.gz
+tar xvfz ncurses-6.3.tar.gz
+cd ncurses-6.3
+./configure --enable-pc-files --enable-sigwinch --enable-symlinks --enable-widec --with-shared --with-cxx-shared --with-gpm=no --without-ada ${NCURSES_TERMINFO} --prefix=`pwd`/output
+make -j8 || exit $?
+make install
+mv output ../ncurses-bin
+cd ..
+
 #
 # boost
 #
diff --git a/script/stage-static-vendor-libraries.sh b/script/stage-static-vendor-libraries.sh
index a04eb445e..156817fdb 100755
--- a/script/stage-static-vendor-libraries.sh
+++ b/script/stage-static-vendor-libraries.sh
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ elif [[ "$PLATFORM" == 'Linux' ]]; then
     cp vendor/ffmpeg-bin/lib/libavutil-musikcube.so.57 ./bin/lib/
     cp vendor/ffmpeg-bin/lib/libswresample-musikcube.so.4 ./bin/lib/
     cp vendor/curl-bin/lib/libcurl.so.4 ./bin/lib/
+    cp vendor/ncurses-bin/lib/libncursesw.so.6 ./bin/lib
+    cp vendor/ncurses-bin/lib/libpanelw.so.6 ./bin/lib
 
     cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libssl.so.1.1 ./bin/lib/
     cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcrypto.so.1.1 ./bin/lib/
@@ -30,4 +32,6 @@ elif [[ "$PLATFORM" == 'Linux' ]]; then
     cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libvorbis.so.0 ./bin/lib
     cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libvorbisfile.so.3 ./bin/lib
     cp /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libogg.so.0 ./bin/lib
+
+    chmod -x ./bin/lib/*
 fi
diff --git a/script/strip-nix.sh b/script/strip-nix.sh
index aa4ea62e5..98383386b 100755
--- a/script/strip-nix.sh
+++ b/script/strip-nix.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ if [ -z "$DIR" ]; then
   DIR=`pwd`
 fi
 echo "[strip] resolved directory: ${DIR}"
-strip "$DIR/bin/musikcube"
-strip "$DIR/bin/musikcubed"
-find "$DIR/bin/" -name "*.so" -exec strip "{}" \; 2> /dev/null
+strip "$DIR/bin/*" 2> /dev/null
+strip "$DIR/bin/lib/*" 2> /dev/null
+strip "$DIR/bin/plugin/*" 2> /dev/null
 echo "[strip] finished"
diff --git a/src/musikcore/CMakeLists.txt b/src/musikcore/CMakeLists.txt
index 2dd13b23e..a70db632e 100644
--- a/src/musikcore/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/musikcore/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -81,9 +81,14 @@ include_directories(
 
 add_definitions(-DMCSDK_DEFINE_EXPORTS)
 add_library(musikcore SHARED ${CORE_SOURCES})
+
 set_target_properties(musikcore PROPERTIES LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${musikcube_SOURCE_DIR}/bin)
 target_link_libraries(musikcore ${musikcube_LINK_LIBS})
 
+if (${BUILD_STANDALONE} MATCHES "true")
+    target_include_directories(musikcore BEFORE PRIVATE ${VENDOR_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES})
+endif()
+
 if (ENABLE_PCH MATCHES "true")
     message(STATUS "[musikcore] enabling precompiled headers")
     include(./pch.cmake)
diff --git a/src/musikcube/CMakeLists.txt b/src/musikcube/CMakeLists.txt
index d248e14ec..a3e332f40 100644
--- a/src/musikcube/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/musikcube/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -79,46 +79,36 @@ configure_file("musikcube.in" "musikcube" @ONLY)
 add_executable(musikcube ${CUBE_SRCS})
 add_definitions(-DNCURSES_WIDECHAR)
 
-if (CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME MATCHES "Darwin")
-    if (${BUILD_STANDALONE} MATCHES "true")
-        find_library(
-            NCURSESWLIB
-            NAMES libncursesw.a ncursesw
-            PATHS ${VENDOR_LINK_DIRECTORIES})
-
-        find_library(
-            PANELWLIB
-            NAMES libpanelw.a panelw
-            PATHS ${VENDOR_LINK_DIRECTORIES})
-
-        message(STATUS "[musikcube] using libncursesw at " ${NCURSESWLIB})
-        message(STATUS "[musikcube] using libpanelw at " ${PANELWLIB})
-
-        target_link_libraries(musikcube ${musikcube_LINK_LIBS} ${NCURSESWLIB} ${PANELWLIB} musikcore)
-    else()
-        target_link_libraries(musikcube ${musikcube_LINK_LIBS} ncursesw panelw musikcore)
-    endif()
-else()
-    find_package(PkgConfig)
-    if (${NCURSES_DISABLE_LIB_SUFFIXES} MATCHES "true")
-      # pkg_check_modules fails on some systems, including OpenBSD.
-      # pkg_check_modules(NCURSES REQUIRED ncurses panel)
-      ensure_library_exists(ncurses)
-      ensure_library_exists(panel)
-      set(NCURSES_LIBRARIES ncurses panel)
-      message(STATUS "[ncurses] using library names without 'w' prefix")
-    else()
-      # pkg_check_modules fails on some systems, including OpenBSD.
-      # pkg_check_modules(NCURSES REQUIRED ncursesw panelw)
-      ensure_library_exists(ncursesw)
-      ensure_library_exists(panelw)
-      set(NCURSES_LIBRARIES ncursesw panelw)
-      message(STATUS "[ncurses] using library names with 'w' prefix")
-    endif()
-    target_link_libraries(musikcube ${musikcube_LINK_LIBS} ${NCURSES_LIBRARIES} musikcore)
+if (${BUILD_STANDALONE} MATCHES "true")
+  target_include_directories(musikcube BEFORE PRIVATE ${VENDOR_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES})
 endif()
 
+# figure out if we have a "w" suffix or not...
+if (${NCURSES_DISABLE_LIB_SUFFIXES} MATCHES "true")
+    message(STATUS "[ncurses] using library names *WITHOUT* 'w' prefix")
+    set(CURSES_LIBRARY_NAME ncurses)
+    set(PANEL_LIBRARY_NAME panel)
+else()
+    message(STATUS "[ncurses] using library names with 'w' prefix")
+    set(CURSES_LIBRARY_NAME ncursesw)
+    set(PANEL_LIBRARY_NAME panelw)
+endif()
+
+if (${BUILD_STANDALONE} MATCHES "true")
+    find_library(LIBNCURSES NAMES ${CURSES_LIBRARY_NAME} PATHS ${VENDOR_LINK_DIRECTORIES} NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
+    find_library(LIBPANEL NAMES ${PANEL_LIBRARY_NAME} PATHS ${VENDOR_LINK_DIRECTORIES} NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
+else()
+    find_library(LIBNCURSES NAMES ${CURSES_LIBRARY_NAME} PATHS ${VENDOR_LINK_DIRECTORIES})
+    find_library(LIBPANEL NAMES ${PANEL_LIBRARY_NAME} PATHS ${VENDOR_LINK_DIRECTORIES})
+endif()
+
+message(STATUS "[musikcube] using libncurses at: " ${LIBNCURSES})
+message(STATUS "[musikcube] using libpanel at: " ${LIBPANEL})
+message(STATUS "[musikcube] using libtinfo at: " ${LIBTINFO})
+target_link_libraries(musikcube ${musikcube_LINK_LIBS} ${LIBNCURSES} ${LIBPANEL} musikcore)
+
 if (ENABLE_PCH MATCHES "true")
     message(STATUS "[musikcube] enabling precompiled headers")
     include(./pch.cmake)
 endif()
+
diff --git a/src/musikcubed/CMakeLists.txt b/src/musikcubed/CMakeLists.txt
index f1b995593..c38fc2837 100644
--- a/src/musikcubed/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/musikcubed/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@ set (DAEMON_SRCS
   ./main.cpp
 )
 
-ensure_library_exists(ev)
-
 set(musikcube_INSTALL_DIR ${HOMEBREW_PREFIX})
 if (NOT DEFINED musikcube_INSTALL_DIR)
 	set(musikcube_INSTALL_DIR ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX})
@@ -13,8 +11,10 @@ configure_file("musikcubed.in" "musikcubed" @ONLY)
 add_executable(musikcubed ${DAEMON_SRCS})
 
 if (${BUILD_STANDALONE} MATCHES "true")
+    target_include_directories(musikcubed BEFORE PRIVATE ${VENDOR_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES})
     find_library(EVLIB NAMES libev.a ev)
-    target_link_libraries(musikcubed ${musikcube_LINK_LIBS} ${EVLIB} musikcore)
 else()
-	target_link_libraries(musikcubed ${musikcube_LINK_LIBS} musikcore ev)
+  find_library(EVLIB NAMES ev)
 endif()
+
+target_link_libraries(musikcubed ${musikcube_LINK_LIBS} ${EVLIB} musikcore)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/plugins/alsaout/CMakeLists.txt b/src/plugins/alsaout/CMakeLists.txt
index 6f6bda335..28b05c2a8 100755
--- a/src/plugins/alsaout/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/plugins/alsaout/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ set (alsaout_SOURCES
   AlsaOut.cpp
 )
 
-ensure_library_exists(asound)
-
 add_library(alsaout SHARED ${alsaout_SOURCES})
-target_link_libraries(alsaout asound)
+
+find_library(LIBASOUND asound)
+target_link_libraries(alsaout ${LIBASOUND})
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/libopenmptdecoder/CMakeLists.txt b/src/plugins/libopenmptdecoder/CMakeLists.txt
index 701d1da50..8d7b3544f 100644
--- a/src/plugins/libopenmptdecoder/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/plugins/libopenmptdecoder/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,8 +6,6 @@ set (openmptdecoder_SOURCES
   Utility.cpp
 )
 
-ensure_library_exists(openmpt)
-
 add_library(openmptdecoder SHARED ${openmptdecoder_SOURCES})
 
 find_library(OPENMPTLIB NAMES openmpt)
diff --git a/src/plugins/pipewireout/CMakeLists.txt b/src/plugins/pipewireout/CMakeLists.txt
index 57280d556..1d957836a 100644
--- a/src/plugins/pipewireout/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/plugins/pipewireout/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@ set (pipewireout_SOURCES
   PipeWireOut.cpp
 )
 
-ensure_library_exists(pipewire-0.3)
-
 message(STATUS "[pipewireout] plugin enabled")
 
 find_package(PkgConfig)
diff --git a/src/plugins/pulseout/CMakeLists.txt b/src/plugins/pulseout/CMakeLists.txt
index e13baa15b..a42277d3f 100755
--- a/src/plugins/pulseout/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/plugins/pulseout/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ set (pulseout_SOURCES
   PulseOut.cpp
 )
 
-ensure_library_exists(pulse)
-
 add_library(pulseout SHARED ${pulseout_SOURCES})
-target_link_libraries(pulseout pulse)
+
+find_library(LIBPULSE pulse)
+target_link_libraries(pulseout ${LIBPULSE})
diff --git a/src/plugins/sndioout/CMakeLists.txt b/src/plugins/sndioout/CMakeLists.txt
index 3e2d68c7b..28f7432fd 100644
--- a/src/plugins/sndioout/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/plugins/sndioout/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ set (sndioout_SOURCES
   SndioOut.cpp
 )
 
-ensure_library_exists(sndio)
-
 add_library(sndioout SHARED ${sndioout_SOURCES})
-target_link_libraries(sndioout sndio)
+
+find_library(LIBSNDIO sndio)
+target_link_libraries(sndioout ${LIBSNDIO})
diff --git a/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/CMakeLists.txt b/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/CMakeLists.txt
index 62225d7de..d5db8ed2d 100644
--- a/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ set (taglibreader_SOURCES
 add_library(taglibreader SHARED ${taglibreader_SOURCES})
 include_directories(${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 
+find_library(LIBZ z)
+
 if (NOT ${ENABLE_BUNDLED_TAGLIB} MATCHES "false")
   message(STATUS "[taglibmetadatareader] using bundled taglib = true")
 
@@ -21,10 +23,10 @@ if (NOT ${ENABLE_BUNDLED_TAGLIB} MATCHES "false")
 
   include_directories("${musikcube_SOURCE_DIR}/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/taglib-1.11/stage/include")
   add_dependencies(taglibreader taglib)
-  target_link_libraries(taglibreader ${Boost_LIBRARIES} "${musikcube_SOURCE_DIR}/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/taglib-1.11/stage/lib/libtag.a" z)
-  message(STATUS "[taglibmetadatareader] using ${musikcube_SOURCE_DIR}/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/taglib-1.11/stage/lib/libtag.a")
+  set(LIBTAG "${musikcube_SOURCE_DIR}/src/plugins/taglib_plugin/taglib-1.11/stage/lib/libtag.a")
 else()
-  message(STATUS "[taglibmetadatareader] using bundled taglib = false")
-  ensure_library_exists(tag)
-  target_link_libraries(taglibreader ${Boost_LIBRARIES} tag z)
+  find_library(LIBTAG tag)
 endif()
+
+message(STATUS "[taglibmetadatareader] using ${LIBTAG}")
+target_link_libraries(taglibreader ${Boost_LIBRARIES} ${LIBTAG} ${LIBZ})