@galaxis Pretty sure that's one of the motivators.
But it also gives fake competition which legitimizes their hijacking of the standardization process. HTML got pretty static while all the work that's being done is adding new JS APIs – at times even deprecating nice HTML5 things like <keygen> and making sure public key-based cryptographic logins are only doable well with JS.
They don't want you to be able to use the web without JS – the focus shifted completely from hyperlinked document delivery to untrusted multi-source application delivery thereby enabling and powering a huge global surveillance machine which they use to make their money.
@galaxis i.e. Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, etcetc…
@phryk @galaxis If you haven't caught the bug yet, go checkout Gemini at https://gemini.circumlunar.space. Then install a Gemini client and visit it again at gemini://gemini.circumlunar.space. Voila! Freedom from surveillance capitalism in the friendly, eclectic, textnet. #gemini
@lambdatronic Nah, thanks. I like styles and vector graphics. :P
// @galaxis
@phryk Also: They control most of the mainstream websites, and have their services integrated into most of the rest. That's another side they attack The Web from!
@alcinnz At some point I will most definitely try to gather some data on this, visualize it with poobrains and write a proper "Web considered harmful" article. :P
@phryk I still think that Google only makes deals with Mozilla to keep them alive as a competitor that helps staying out of antitrust trouble.