diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 8a29d08a..3aa60779 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ set(CMAKE_CXX_EXTENSIONS OFF)  # Make sure no compiler-specific features are use
 set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin)
 
 option(BUILD_STATIC "Build static binary" OFF)
+option(BUILD_DEPS "Build external dependencies" OFF)
+option(BUILD_RETARGETABLE "Build retargetable binary" OFF)
 
 if (BUILD_STATIC)
   set(CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES ".a")
@@ -41,7 +43,19 @@ if (${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} MATCHES Release)
   set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE "-DNDEBUG")
   set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS_RELEASE "-DNDEBUG")
   if (NOT EXTRA_FLAGS)
-    set(EXTRA_FLAGS "-Ofast -march=x86-64-v3")
+    if (BUILD_RETARGETABLE)
+      set(EXTRA_FLAGS "-Ofast -march=x86-64-v3 -flto")
+    else()
+      set(EXTRA_FLAGS "-Ofast -march=native -flto")
+    endif()
+  endif()
+endif ()
+
+if (${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} MATCHES Generic)
+  set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE "-DNDEBUG")
+  set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS_RELEASE "-DNDEBUG")
+  if (NOT EXTRA_FLAGS)
+    set(EXTRA_FLAGS "-Ofast -flto")
   endif()
 endif ()
 
@@ -66,64 +80,91 @@ add_subdirectory(src/common/wflign EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
 
 include(ExternalProject)
 
-ExternalProject_Add(htslib
-  URL https://github.com/samtools/htslib/releases/download/1.20/htslib-1.20.tar.bz2
-  PREFIX ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/htslib
-  CONFIGURE_COMMAND autoreconf -i && ./configure --prefix=${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/htslib --disable-libcurl --disable-s3 
-  BUILD_COMMAND $(MAKE)
-  INSTALL_COMMAND $(MAKE) install
-  BUILD_IN_SOURCE 1
-)
-
-ExternalProject_Add(gsl
-  URL https://mirror.ibcp.fr/pub/gnu/gsl/gsl-2.8.tar.gz
-  PREFIX ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/gsl
-  CONFIGURE_COMMAND ./configure --prefix=${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/gsl
-  BUILD_COMMAND $(MAKE)
-  INSTALL_COMMAND $(MAKE) install
-  BUILD_IN_SOURCE 1
-)
-
-ExternalProject_Add(libdeflate
-  URL https://github.com/ebiggers/libdeflate/releases/download/v1.20/libdeflate-1.20.tar.gz
-  PREFIX ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/libdeflate
-  CMAKE_ARGS
-    -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/libdeflate
-    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
-  BUILD_COMMAND cmake --build . --config Release
-  INSTALL_COMMAND cmake --install . --config Release
-  BUILD_IN_SOURCE 1
-)
+if (BUILD_DEPS)
+  ExternalProject_Add(htslib
+    URL https://github.com/samtools/htslib/releases/download/1.20/htslib-1.20.tar.bz2
+    PREFIX ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/htslib
+    CONFIGURE_COMMAND autoreconf -i && ./configure --prefix=${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/htslib --disable-libcurl --disable-s3 
+    BUILD_COMMAND $(MAKE)
+    INSTALL_COMMAND $(MAKE) install
+    BUILD_IN_SOURCE 1
+  )
+
+  ExternalProject_Add(gsl
+    URL https://mirror.ibcp.fr/pub/gnu/gsl/gsl-2.8.tar.gz
+    PREFIX ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/gsl
+    CONFIGURE_COMMAND ./configure --prefix=${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/gsl
+    BUILD_COMMAND $(MAKE)
+    INSTALL_COMMAND $(MAKE) install
+    BUILD_IN_SOURCE 1
+  )
+
+  ExternalProject_Add(libdeflate
+    URL https://github.com/ebiggers/libdeflate/releases/download/v1.20/libdeflate-1.20.tar.gz
+    PREFIX ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/libdeflate
+    CMAKE_ARGS
+      -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/libdeflate
+      -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
+    BUILD_COMMAND cmake --build . --config Release
+    INSTALL_COMMAND cmake --install . --config Release
+    BUILD_IN_SOURCE 1
+  )
+
+  add_dependencies(wfmash htslib gsl libdeflate)
+endif()
 
 add_executable(wfmash
   src/common/utils.cpp
   src/interface/main.cpp)
 
-add_dependencies(wfmash htslib gsl libdeflate)
+if (BUILD_DEPS)
+  target_include_directories(wfmash PRIVATE
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/htslib/include
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/gsl/include
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/libdeflate/include
+  )
+
+  target_link_libraries(wfmash
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/gsl/lib/libgsl.a
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/gsl/lib/libgslcblas.a
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/htslib/lib/libhts.a
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/libdeflate/lib/libdeflate.a
+  )
+else()
+  #find_package(HTSLIB REQUIRED)
+  #find_package(GSL REQUIRED)
+  #find_package(LibDeflate REQUIRED)
+
+  #target_include_directories(wfmash PRIVATE
+  #  ${HTSLIB_INCLUDE_DIR}
+  #  ${GSL_INCLUDE_DIR}
+  #  ${LIBDEFLATE_INCLUDE_DIR}
+  #)
+
+  target_link_libraries(wfmash
+  gsl
+  gslcblas
+  hts
+  deflate
+  )
+endif()
 
 target_include_directories(wfmash PRIVATE
   src
   src/common
   src/common/wflign/deps
   src/common/wflign/deps/WFA2-lib
-  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/htslib/include
-  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/gsl/include
-  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/libdeflate/include
 )
 
 target_link_libraries(wfmash
-  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/gsl/lib/libgsl.a
-  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/gsl/lib/libgslcblas.a
   m
   pthread
   libwflign_static
-  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/htslib/lib/libhts.a
   rt
   wfa2cpp_static
   lzma
   bz2
   z
-  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/libdeflate/lib/libdeflate.a
   Threads::Threads
 )
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 096d2c76..6758c0bc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -111,68 +111,130 @@ To prevent lags when starting a mapping process, users should apply `samtools in
 The `.fai` indexes are then used to quickly compute the sum of query lengths.
 
 
-## installation
+## Installation
 
-### building from source
+### Static binaries
 
-The build is orchestrated with `cmake`. At least GCC version 9.3.0 is required for compilation. You can check your version via:
+We provide [static builds of wfmash releases](https://github.com/waveygang/wfmash/releases) targeted at the `x86-64-v3` instruction set.
+
+### Bioconda
+
+`wfmash` recipes for Bioconda are available at https://anaconda.org/bioconda/wfmash.
+To install the latest version using `Conda` execute:
 
 ``` bash
-gcc --version
-g++ --version
+conda install -c bioconda wfmash
 ```
 
-You can also use recent versions of clang/LLVM. To switch compiler, use `export CC=$(which clang); export CXX=$(which clang++)` before running `cmake`.
+## Building from Source
 
-It may be necessary to install several system-level libraries to build `wfmash`. On `Ubuntu 20.04`, these can be installed using `apt`:
+The build process for `wfmash` is managed using `CMake`, providing various options to customize the build.
 
-```
-sudo apt install build-essential cmake zlib1g-dev libgsl-dev libhts-dev
-```
+### Prerequisites
 
-After installing the required dependencies, clone the `wfmash` git repository and build with:
+Before building `wfmash`, you need the following dependencies installed on your system:
 
+- GCC (version 9.3.0 or higher) or a recent version of Clang/LLVM
+- CMake
+- Zlib
+- GSL
+- HTSlib
+- LibLZMA
+- BZip2
+- Threads
+- OpenMP
+
+On Ubuntu >20.04, these dependencies can be installed with the following command:
+
+```sh
+sudo apt install build-essential cmake zlib1g-dev libgsl-dev libhts-dev liblzma-dev libbz2-dev
 ```
-git clone --recursive https://github.com/ekg/wfmash.git
+
+### Clone the Repository
+
+Clone the `wfmash` repository:
+
+```sh
+git clone https://github.com/waveygang/wfmash.git
 cd wfmash
-cmake -H. -Bbuild && cmake --build build -- -j 8
 ```
 
-Of course, you can use as many cores as you like.
+### Build Options
 
-If your system has several versions of the `gcc`/`g++` compilers you might tell `cmake` which one to use with:
+`wfmash` provides several CMake options to customize the build process:
 
+- `BUILD_STATIC` (default: `OFF`): Build a static binary.
+- `BUILD_DEPS` (default: `OFF`): Build external dependencies (htslib, gsl, libdeflate) from source. Use this if system libraries are not available or you want to use specific versions. HTSlib will be built without curl support, which removes a warning for static compilation related to `dlopen`.
+- `BUILD_RETARGETABLE` (default: `OFF`): Build a retargetable binary. When this option is enabled, the binary will not include machine-specific optimizations (`-march=native`).
+
+These can be mixed and matched.
+
+### Building with System Libraries
+
+To build `wfmash` using system libraries:
+
+```sh
+cmake -H. -Bbuild && cmake --build build -- -j 8
 ```
-cmake -H. -Bbuild -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER='/usr/bin/gcc-10' -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER='/usr/bin/g++-10'
-cmake --build build -- -j 8
-```
-The `wfmash` binary will be in `build/bin`.
 
-#### Static compilation
+This command will configure and build `wfmash` in the `build` directory, using as many cores as you specify with the `-j` option.
 
-By default, we build `wfmash` in Release mode (with optimizations) and as a dynamically linked executable.
-Alternatively we can build a static binary:
+### Building with External Dependencies
 
+If you need to build with external dependencies, use the `BUILD_DEPS` option:
+
+```sh
+cmake -H. -Bbuild -DBUILD_DEPS=ON && cmake --build build -- -j 8
 ```
+
+This will download and build the necessary external dependencies.
+
+### Building a Static Binary
+
+To build a static binary, use the `BUILD_STATIC` option:
+
+```sh
 cmake -H. -Bbuild -DBUILD_STATIC=ON && cmake --build build -- -j 16
 ```
 
-#### Notes for distribution
+### Building a Retargetable Binary
 
-If you need to avoid machine-specific optimizations, use the `CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Generic` build type:
+To build a retargetable binary, use the `BUILD_RETARGETABLE` option:
 
-```shell
-cmake -H. -Bbuild -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Generic && cmake --build build -- -j 3
+```sh
+cmake -H. -Bbuild -DBUILD_RETARGETABLE=ON && cmake --build build -- -j 8
 ```
 
-#### Notes on dependencies
+This will configure the build without `-march=native`, allowing the binary to be run on different types of machines.
 
-On `Arch Linux`, the `jemalloc` dependency can be installed with:
+### Installing
 
+After building, you can install `wfmash` using:
+
+```sh
+cmake --install build
 ```
-sudo pacman -S jemalloc     # arch linux
+
+This will install the `wfmash` binary and any required libraries to the default installation directory (typically `/usr/local/bin` for binaries).
+
+#### Tests
+
+To build and run tests:
+
+```sh
+cmake --build build --target test
 ```
 
+#### Notes for distribution
+
+If you need to avoid machine-specific optimizations, use the `CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Generic` build type:
+
+```shell
+cmake -H. -Bbuild -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Generic && cmake --build build -- -j 8
+```
+
+The resulting binary should be compatible with all x86 processors.
+
 #### Notes for debugging/plotting
 
 To enable the functionality of emitting wavefront plots (in PNG format), tables (in TSV format), and timing information, add the `-DWFA_PNG_TSV_TIMING=ON` option:
@@ -229,16 +291,6 @@ singularity run wfmash.sif $ARGS
 
 Where `$ARGS` are your typical command line arguments to `wfmash`.
 
-
-### Bioconda
-
-`wfmash` recipes for Bioconda are available at https://anaconda.org/bioconda/wfmash.
-To install the latest version using `Conda` execute:
-
-``` bash
-conda install -c bioconda wfmash
-```
-
 ### Guix
 
 #### installing via the guix-genomics git repository