I think it's more that people writing libraries are depending on left-pad. You can write the function in almost the time it takes to add and install the dependency.
Furthermore, left-pad didn't really do one thing well. It did one specific subcase of one specific problem well. That's like a tenth of a thing, for a definition of well that basically means "written by a monkey taking an npm tutorial".
This also feeds into an extreme example of the continuing discussion around the cost/value/risks of extensive, transitive dependencies with the general consensus being that you would've been better off writing your own left-pad function 1,000 times rather than forcing the risk of this dependency onto your downstream.
Furthermore, left-pad didn't really do one thing well. It did one specific subcase of one specific problem well. That's like a tenth of a thing, for a definition of well that basically means "written by a monkey taking an npm tutorial".
This also feeds into an extreme example of the continuing discussion around the cost/value/risks of extensive, transitive dependencies with the general consensus being that you would've been better off writing your own left-pad function 1,000 times rather than forcing the risk of this dependency onto your downstream.