> It's not so much surface API

It's a new static method defined on the publicly accessible "surface" of the jQuery constructor function object.

> It's not so much surface API as it is a simple hook. It's clearly marked as private (leading underscore).

An underscore is _meaningless_.

> Having to override a variable in the closure at build time is overkill 

Yes, I agree

> when a private overridable hook on the jQuery object does the job perfectly.

This is contradictory.

...


When did jQuery get in the business of doing insane shit to support phantom third-party Ajax libs?