It might be bad example, but if the Java SE runtime libraries was just a dependency like any other mvn artifact (module), Sun / Oracle would for example have been in a position to introduce immutability to the Collections framework and fix crazy other stuff[1] without breaking backward compatibility. But now we are stuck with those legacies forever[2], since they standardized on a too high level abstraction and choose fewer layers. For Java's, luckily they had layer underneath - JVM byte code, which is why I predict Java is still relevant for many years going forward.
The next generation of WWW needs to a very low common abstraction, e.g. bytecode. Something similar to X Windows.
[1] See Effective Java Puzzlers. [2] Project Jigsaw might change that.