I agree with you that if people do not know what they are doing and move folders out of RootFS they can break their N900 and force a reflash to be needed.

This is why I recommend using a tested and proven script, created by someone who knows what he is doing.

If you check the script and understand which folders have been redirected you should be comfortable wiuth what is being done.

Regards

Steve

Why the obsession with Rootfs free space?

In your original post you state...

What problems? Where do you come by this information? When the N900 was first released (actually when the first units were loaned to bloggers and whatnot) there was a warning posted to the effect that many of the apps that were then in the developer repo were carried directly over from "Diablo" and were not "optified".

This had nothing to do with any "problem" with the N900 rather, a problem with apps that did not use the "opt" directory for non essential data. Not programs included in the original firmware. If this was the case then these apps would, or have been corrected in subsequent updates.

Also in your original post you state that:

...and that you:

From doing the math, using the figures you provided, it seems that even after installing all those apps you only increased rootfs use 2.3M...

Again; where is the problem?

Since you obviously are comfortable running the command "df -h" from the terminal, it seems to me that the best practice would be to run this command after every app you install from the developer or testing repositories. Then report your results if the seem out of line.

Every symlink from rootfs is a future nightmare waiting to happen. Even if this isn't the case, reducing your rootfs below OEM levels could mask any real problem apps that you might install. As a result, they go unreported and might not get fixed for the next guy. Savvy?

I just want to point out that this script did take my rootfs from 34 MB to 86 MB
....but within the first 5 minutes I realized one (minor yet aggravating) side effect. all my themes are completely out of order. I tried switching between them, uninstalling them and reinstalling to no avail. some elements of the themes revert to an original Nokia one. so dont do this script if you enjoy having a good theme on your N900...

edit: if someone knows of a way to reverse it, let me know. otherwise I will reflash because I really miss D-Theme Simple Blue (props to the dev) or perhaps I'll wait until the next FW and reflash prior to updating.

anyone know how to revert the section of this script that moves "themes"??

I think I know where it's moved to (judging by OP's first post) but not sure where it was originally..

I ran this script and it brought my rootfs down from 97% used to 66% used so big improvement there. I havent noticed any theme issues at the mo but will keep you posted

Does anyone have some benchmarks of maemo running entirely from SD?

For me, the script was definitely the culprit...? weird. unless it was conflicting with something i had installed recently but I doubt it because i only ran the script and as soon as i rebooted it happened. please let us know if my case is a fluke. I'm dying to get my D-Theme Simple Blue back but reflashing is a no-go since the new FW is around the corner and I'll probably reflash then.

rm /usr/share/themes [the symlink]
cp -r /home/opt/usr/share/themes/* /usr/share/themes

reboot

Think that should work, just reverses the move and links made by the script

Personally very happy with the script and other rootfs suggestions.

Ok, believe it or not this actually made things worse. see attached images.
i ran what you said and im not sure if the first command even went through since x-term didn't give me anything (see image).

So i WinSCP'd and created the directory /home/opt/usr/share/themes and rebooted. but before i even got to reboot, when i was creating the 2nd screenshot here, look at what happened. now i cant even go into "themes" at all (not in settings nor by tapping and clicking the gears icon) and a lot of buttons/images are missing or out of shape, etc.

any clue? i'd prefer not to reflash, maybe it just needs proper deleting of the symlink and somehow getting it to see the stock "themes" folder...

screenshots: