diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 57cb844ab..2aed1acf4 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,18 +1,21 @@
 GOTOOLS = \
-					github.com/mitchellh/gox \
-					github.com/tcnksm/ghr \
-					gopkg.in/alecthomas/gometalinter.v2
-
+	github.com/mitchellh/gox \
+	github.com/Masterminds/glide \
+	github.com/tcnksm/ghr \
+	gopkg.in/alecthomas/gometalinter.v2
+GOTOOLS_CHECK = gox glide ghr gometalinter.v2
 PACKAGES=$(shell go list ./... | grep -v '/vendor/')
 BUILD_TAGS?=tendermint
 TMHOME = $${TMHOME:-$$HOME/.tendermint}
-
 BUILD_FLAGS = -ldflags "-X github.com/tendermint/tendermint/version.GitCommit=`git rev-parse --short HEAD`"
 
-all: get_vendor_deps install test
+all: check build test install metalinter
 
-install:
-	go install $(BUILD_FLAGS) ./cmd/tendermint
+check: check_tools get_vendor_deps
+
+
+########################################
+### Build
 
 build:
 	go build $(BUILD_FLAGS) -o build/tendermint ./cmd/tendermint/
@@ -24,9 +27,42 @@ build_race:
 dist:
 	@BUILD_TAGS='$(BUILD_TAGS)' sh -c "'$(CURDIR)/scripts/dist.sh'"
 
+install:
+	go install $(BUILD_FLAGS) ./cmd/tendermint
+
+
+########################################
+### Tools & dependencies
+
+check_tools:
+	@# https://stackoverflow.com/a/25668869
+	@echo "Found tools: $(foreach tool,$(GOTOOLS_CHECK),\
+        $(if $(shell which $(tool)),$(tool),$(error "No $(tool) in PATH")))"
+
+get_tools:
+	@echo "--> Installing tools"
+	go get -u -v $(GOTOOLS)
+	@gometalinter.v2 --install
+
+update_tools:
+	@echo "--> Updating tools"
+	@go get -u $(GOTOOLS)
+
+get_vendor_deps:
+	@rm -rf vendor/
+	@echo "--> Running glide install"
+	@glide install
+
+draw_deps:
+	@# requires brew install graphviz or apt-get install graphviz
+	go get github.com/RobotsAndPencils/goviz
+	@goviz -i github.com/tendermint/tendermint/cmd/tendermint -d 3 | dot -Tpng -o dependency-graph.png
+
+
+########################################
+### Testing
+
 test:
-	@echo "--> Running linter"
-	@make metalinter_test
 	@echo "--> Running go test"
 	@go test $(PACKAGES)
 
@@ -49,46 +85,21 @@ vagrant_test:
 	vagrant ssh -c 'make test_race'
 	vagrant ssh -c 'make test_integrations'
 
-draw_deps:
-	# requires brew install graphviz or apt-get install graphviz
-	go get github.com/RobotsAndPencils/goviz
-	@goviz -i github.com/tendermint/tendermint/cmd/tendermint -d 3 | dot -Tpng -o dependency-graph.png
-
-get_vendor_deps:
-	@hash glide 2>/dev/null || go get github.com/Masterminds/glide
-	@rm -rf vendor/
-	@echo "--> Running glide install"
-	@glide install
-	@make check_tools
-
-update_vendor_deps:
-	@glide update
-
-update_tools:
-	@echo "--> Updating tools"
-	@go get -u $(GOTOOLS)
-
-check_tools:
-	which gox || make tools
-
-tools:
-	@echo "--> Installing tools"
-	@go get $(GOTOOLS)
-	@gometalinter.v2 --install
 
+########################################
 ### Formatting, linting, and vetting
 
-metalinter:
-	gometalinter.v2 --vendor --deadline=600s --enable-all --disable=lll ./...
+fmt:
+	@go fmt ./...
 
-metalinter_test:
+metalinter:
+	@echo "--> Running linter"
 	gometalinter.v2 --vendor --deadline=600s --disable-all  \
 		--enable=deadcode \
 		--enable=gosimple \
 	 	--enable=misspell \
 		--enable=safesql \
 		./...
-
 		#--enable=gas \
 		#--enable=maligned \
 		#--enable=dupl \
@@ -110,4 +121,12 @@ metalinter_test:
 		#--enable=vet \
 		#--enable=vetshadow \
 
-.PHONY: install build build_race check_tools dist test test_race test_integrations test100 draw_deps get_vendor_deps update_vendor_deps update_tools tools test_release
+metalinter_all:
+	@echo "--> Running linter (all)"
+	gometalinter.v2 --vendor --deadline=600s --enable-all --disable=lll ./...
+
+
+# To avoid unintended conflicts with file names, always add to .PHONY
+# unless there is a reason not to.
+# https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/Phony-Targets.html
+.PHONY: check build build_race dist install check_tools get_tools update_tools get_vendor_deps draw_deps test test_race test_integrations test_release test100 vagrant_test fmt metalinter metalinter_all
diff --git a/glide.lock b/glide.lock
index c29eea4de..bdddaf58a 100644
--- a/glide.lock
+++ b/glide.lock
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ imports:
   subpackages:
   - iavl
 - name: github.com/tendermint/tmlibs
-  version: e236218516289f91bde3273e99fe5c1fc20eb304
+  version: 662a886dc20600ce11e1d684a15b83b5813e7277
   subpackages:
   - autofile
   - cli
diff --git a/p2p/connection.go b/p2p/connection.go
index b0a407229..626aeb10f 100644
--- a/p2p/connection.go
+++ b/p2p/connection.go
@@ -314,11 +314,11 @@ FOR_LOOP:
 			// NOTE: flushTimer.Set() must be called every time
 			// something is written to .bufWriter.
 			c.flush()
-		case <-c.chStatsTimer.Ch:
+		case <-c.chStatsTimer.Chan():
 			for _, channel := range c.channels {
 				channel.updateStats()
 			}
-		case <-c.pingTimer.Ch:
+		case <-c.pingTimer.Chan():
 			c.Logger.Debug("Send Ping")
 			legacy.WriteOctet(packetTypePing, c.bufWriter, &n, &err)
 			c.sendMonitor.Update(int(n))
diff --git a/test/docker/Dockerfile b/test/docker/Dockerfile
index 4e98ecc7a..a168cfb1d 100644
--- a/test/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/test/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ WORKDIR $REPO
 ADD glide.yaml glide.yaml
 ADD glide.lock glide.lock
 ADD Makefile Makefile
-RUN make tools
+RUN make get_tools
 RUN make get_vendor_deps
 
 # Install the apps
diff --git a/test/run_test.sh b/test/run_test.sh
index cecd2c72b..ae2ff6b41 100644
--- a/test/run_test.sh
+++ b/test/run_test.sh
@@ -7,8 +7,7 @@ BRANCH=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
 echo "Current branch: $BRANCH"
 
 # run the linter
-# TODO: drop the `_test` once we're ballin' enough
-make metalinter_test
+make metalinter
 
 # run the go unit tests with coverage
 bash test/test_cover.sh
@@ -20,8 +19,8 @@ bash test/app/test.sh
 bash test/persist/test.sh
 
 if [[ "$BRANCH" == "master" || $(echo "$BRANCH" | grep "release-") != "" ]]; then
-    echo ""
-    echo "* branch $BRANCH; testing libs"
-    # checkout every github.com/tendermint dir and run its tests
-    bash test/test_libs.sh
+	echo ""
+	echo "* branch $BRANCH; testing libs"
+	# checkout every github.com/tendermint dir and run its tests
+	bash test/test_libs.sh
 fi