There is always a drag out fight on removing or not, on the Biplane forum. One of the pros does not. Lots of planes he has restored were only held together by the nails when he cut the covering off. Granted it was old glues , but some were fliers like that.
The nails are the prettiest. Inspection time looking inside a wing, it looks good. A friend pulled all the staples in his Legal Eagle. It’s not like he had anything better to do and the thought of a quarter pound of extra weight he needed to save was too much. I on the other hand would just leave them in. I’m a what if person. There is the change digging them out with do some small damage.
The best rib jig I have seen was plexi or similar. Glue did not stick to it. Wing nuts and plates to hold it together. Set up to put ply in the base, capstrip, and then other side ply. Screw it all down and pop it out when ready. Not for speed, but even one rib a night, they are done in a month. Not that taxing.