Why do people call the jQuery $ alias a 'factory'?
<p>On various sites, jQuery's <code>$</code> variable is referred to as an alias, and on others, it is referred to as a factory.  I took a look at the source code, and I think the former is correct.  As far as I can see, the dollar symbol is being defined here:</p>

<pre><code>// Expose jQuery to the global object
return (window.jQuery = window.$ = jQuery);
</code></pre>

<p>This is setting both <code>$</code> and <code>jQuery</code> to the SAME alias; there is no 'factory' for jQuery objects.  Are the sites referring to <code>$</code> as a 'factory' simply wrong?</p>
