Don't know about you but I prefer my plugins to be auto-updated to the latest, safest versions. Last I checked the non-bundled Flash still had to be manually updated from time to time by the user. The built in Flash/PDF is updated with Chrome. You might not think this is useful, but just wait till you click on a link and get pwned. Even if you don't, because you're on Linux, what about your parents?
Some of the newer WebKit features are getting bloated as well, and are built-in even if you don't need them - e.g. the new Javascript de-obsfucation feature in the developer tools.