I'd prefer a fuel gauge over not having one. Not having one wouldn't stop me from buying a bike I otherwise liked. Same with a tachometer.
I've never had a bike with a fuel gauge, I've only had one bike with a tach, my GPZ900R.
You get to know how far you can go and expect to change to reserve, I've rarely had the bike stop before I've switched over.
Ran out of gas with the BMW G450X, it just flashes "FUEL" on the speedo, not something you look at when off-roading.