removeUnknownsAndDefaults removes href attribute from <a> elements

[caghand]

Please run this example through the removeUnknownsAndDefaults plugin:

<svg viewBox="0 0 160 40" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
  <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/">
    <text x="10" y="25">MDN Web Docs</text>
  </a>
</svg>

The "href" attribute is stripped away.

[GreLI]

xlink:href without namespace is a recent addition in SVG 2 which did not reached final recommendation stage. It might not be recognized in software other than browsers. So it doesn't in SVGO. It's better use it traditional way for compatabilty.

[caghand]

I understand the argument, but I disagree with your description of SVGO's pragmatic goals.
SVGO makes exceptions to support SVG 2, in cases where supporting it is harmless, and not supporting it would be inconvenient for users.
For example, see the removeXlink plugin. The fact that removeUnknownsAndDefaults is incompatible with removeXlink (i.e., it breaks the SVG file) is very inconvenient.
Also, see previous concessions about the href attribute here, for removeUnknownsAndDefaults:
#2061
#772
My request here is along the same lines.
In fact, the current inconsistent treatment of href inside removeUnknownsAndDefaults is quite misleading, so, I would argue that it is wrong not to fix this same issue with <a> elements.
I hope you will take a holistic view of this issue, considering these arguments.
Thank you for all your invaluable work on SVGO!