It's better if libraries don't just assume jQuery is everywhere, because I suspect those days are ending. Apps built on newer front-end frameworks like Angular and React might not need it, for example.

As a library author it's becoming more important to think case-by-case -- use raw JS if you just have some simple selections or XHRs, or use Zepto/etc if that covers you, and only depend on jQuery if you really need its richness in your lib.

So in that spirit, I appreciated the article.