Re: Wikimedia uses JavaScript?
Coming from developing frontends in just plain JavaScript, HTML and CSS, to Vue.js now, I can't really complain. The SPA aspect of Vue accommodates for the simplicity of just text and images very well.
Also, you have to consider the information hierarchy WM's page layouts, which are fairly complex. Vue router helps to handle this exceptionally: https://router.vuejs.org/guide/essentials/named-views.html#nested-named-views.
Also Vue is faster:
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/325479785151070208/685210069616427086/vue_wins.PNG
(source): https://auth0.com/blog/vuejs2-authentication-tutorial/#Vuejs-2--Angular-2-and-React
Biting the hand that feeds IT
