In GNOME, we turned that setting off by default quite a long time ago. Probably around 5-6 years at this point. So, if your application relied on menus and buttons having icons, it would have broken in mid-GNOME2-era GNOME.
Unless;
* one has been turning that setting on for the last 5-6 years
* one doesn't do a fresh install every 6 months (settings are persisted)
* one manages a number of computers for others and turns that settings on because it helps when explaining to people how to use the software - "hey frank, I know $APP has a lot of buttons, to stop the process click on the one that looks like a stop sign".
