I think it is exactly what the top poster is arguing for. He didn't say he used an API, he specifically said raw SQL. A non-ORM SQL library is just as non-porta

I think it is exactly what the top poster is arguing for. He didn't say he used an API, he specifically said raw SQL. A non-ORM SQL library is just as non-portable as an ORM, his primary complaint. And each will have at least a few of their own weird intricacies, his secondary complaint (if they didn't, there wouldn't be more than one per language).