Why the rush?
It kind of does, becauſe when the new ſyntax is agreed upon, we will have to rewrite all direct tranſcluſions of "mention" templates all over again. So we might as well do it in one go.
And wiþ some care, the whole change does not have to be ſuch a flag day eiþer. I added a ſeparate "incompat" mode ſpecifically to give it chance to be teſted in a ſmall ſcale before changing all templates.
And by þe way: I would like to ſee a |nongloss= parameter (or ſimilar) added to templates for annotating terms with non-gloſs definitions. Say, {{m|pl|-ek|nongloss=diminutive ſuffix}}.
You're thinking of it in time and effort terms. But it's almost no effort to run a bot twice, and time isn't really an issue either is it? In fact, to change the parameters around we would need to create tracking categories/templates first anyway, to feed such a bot.
And {{l}} has a pos= parameter which does what you describe, more or less.
Not really. I want it tested for a while so that we can see it in some real situations and determine whether this is a good idea at all. Or simply to make more people aware of the idea before suddenly converting everything at once and making it a fait accompli much to their dismay. Like we did with {{label}}, with, as I think, some success.