In reply to Senff.

Only reason I can think where uninstalling but keeping tables has been good is for when updating plugins that don't come with an automated process so you wouldn't lose your data but seems a lot more plugins have automated updates that aren't hosted on WordPress.org.

I have also noticed plugin developers can create custom links next to deactivate and uninstall so maybe ones that don't have an automated process should create a custom button here for uninstall to update or something that retains tables.