the big difference is that the Linux + GNU standard is not controlled by a corporation whose only motive is profit, and that the reference implementation is Free Software that everyone can potentially contribute to.

i would not call that a regression. compare that to the browser standard which is largely controlled by google.

is not controlled by a corporation whose only motive is profit

Instead it's a bunch of corporations with very similar motives, including profit, so the end result isn't all that different. Just look at who the majority of committers work for.