Plumber of 12 years here, mostly in North America but also did a year in western Europe. Caulk or no caulk is situational.

In residential situations (houses or apartments) I prefer to do the no caulk method. When homeowners see water, they generally realise there is a problem and they call a plumber before the floor rots out; if the toilet is caulked, the standing water can do a shit ton of damage before it gets noticed. Also, silicone / caulk gets nasty looking very quickly without regular cleaning. I only ever installed wall-hung toilets in Europe, and we caulked the bowls but they generally never leak so it’s less of an issue.

In commercial situations, like public bathrooms, I’ll caulk the bowl, leaving a small gap at the very back so that a leak can potentially be detected. These types of installations are almost always on some type of concrete and tile floor, so damage to the floor is much less likely to occur. Also, those toilets take muuuch more abuse than one in a residential home, so the layer of caulk helps secure the toilet from displacement. Additionally, most public bathrooms are cleaned on a (hopefully) regular basis, so the caulking tends to stay a little less nasty looking.

Try being Canadian, it’s even more insulting!

Although to be fair, this never happens outside of Paris.