After a small fix, I decided that svg:use is now sufficiently usable. So I created a new command, Clone (Shift+Ctrl+N), that creates a clone of the selected object(s).
A clone is the Inkscape term for the svg:use object. This is similar to a duplicate, except that it's linked back to its original. You can move/scale/rotate/skew/flip each clone independently, but all other aspects (fill, stroke, path, etc) of a clone are dynamically updated from the original if the original is changed. For example, you can draw a petal, create several clones of it, position them into a flower, and node-edit the original petal - all the clone petals will be updated automatically so that the flower remains symmetric at all times.
This feature is basically usable, but still experiemental, and not expected to work properly in all possible situations. I will continue to improve it. Comments welcome.
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