Hi Joe,
When I implemented this I was thinking in terms of global links like the main admin links and links in shared things like module title. But your point is well taken, to carry this setting out in all places requires going through each feature and implementing it and in some cases the text link would be more obtrusive than others. Like the Site Statistics module where we show online members, admins get a gear icon that links to the manage user page but replacing this with a text link would really impact the flow of the layout. I can definitely see doing it in lists and grids though. I will look into making this more consistent but will also keep in mind the layout consequences.
Best,
Joe