While breaking the link between an externally referenced part and a part within a design is a really useful feature because you can edit a copy for a specific application without messing with the original file, I would like to suggest taking this feature one step further and giving users the ability to break the connection between two copied components in a single design, so that if you edit one of them, not all of them get edited.
A simple example in which this would be useful: Say you are designing a box to be laser cut, and all of the sides (each an individual component) have the same geometry and joints, but you would like to cut an additional hole in one of the sides. The quickest way to do this would be to copy and paste five of the sides, but for the sixth side, you'd need to design the component from scratch basically just to put one more feature in. If you could make another copy of the component, break the link, and add the hole, the design would go much faster. This feature would really save time for users designing components that have the same base structure but require some features unique to each one.
Another reason why I bring this up relates to the combine feature. I'm working on designing a box in which each of the edges is a living hinge. Every face of the box is the same part, and I have set them up as shown in the attached image (for some reason I couldn't upload the image in line). The faces are all copies of the same component - I modeled them this way so I could simulate the folding joints. I would now like to join all of them with the combine tool in a single solid body. But...I can't. Why? Because it won't let me. But more specifically, If I combine two of the same component, it will copy over to all six components and create a self referential pit of doom. If I could break the links between these components and then join them into one body, this would be resolved. For now, I have to export ONE of the components as a single part, and in that separate document move copied bodies into the orientation I want, basically re-doing my entire assembly.
![Autodesk Design & Make Report](https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/1350519iCB55845EBFC43016/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999" "Autodesk Design & Make Report")