FWIW, there is better support[1] in 1.6 for definition files for node modules. TypeScript can now read definitions directly out of node_modules. As library authors include those in the package there will be less of a dependency on getting definitions from DefinitelyTyped. This obviously doesn't solve all problems but I think the point is the TS team is aware of some of the issues and is taking steps to address.

1. https://github.com/Microsoft/TypeScript/pull/4352