Most of these choices are not really subjective. They are the most robust methods that make provides for trying to eliminate errors in your make file. If you think "set -e" isn't a good idea you're either a rookie or brain damaged. The alternative is your scripts silently look like they're working when they actually fail and you spend hours trying to debug where things went wrong because the system isn't pointing it out to you.
My only fault with the article is that it's putting lipstick on a pig. None of this does anything to address the fundamental flaw with make that there is no protection against you incorrectly specifying building inputs. Every make file I've ever seen at a company at scale is buggy. These tips would definitely help but would not cure that fundamental issue.