Absolutely agree.
In similar APIs (CMSs), to my knowledge, usually there's a way to get a field term (e.g., different taxonomy/tag terms) as
text-only as well as
linked-text (i.e. both text and link). I was assuming the same when I asked this question. Indeed a bummer that there's no simpler/built-in way.
I want to learn Python and do something about it (a plugin perhaps).
As of now I have no programming knowledge, except for some googlefu.
(PS: Not blaming devs or anything.)