[maemo-developers] Location of /home, /tmp and /var folder kills tablet device in a couple of months

[From: Jason Edgecombe]

Oliver wrote:
> Frantisek wrote
>
>   
>> See some explanation in
>> http://bugs.maemo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=598#c9
>>
>> If you are concerned about this you can also boot whole system from 
>> SD/MMC card - http://wiki.maemo.org/Booting_from_a_flash_card
>>
>>     
>
> Thank's for your answer.
> This clarifies a lot.
>
> Being able to use the device for about over 30 years is sufficient for me.
> But still i would like to know if it is save to move those directories to my external SD flash drive. I won't remove
> the SD drive on a daily basis, but i want to know when the system is mounting the SD flash drive
> because  want be sure, that the device mounts the SD flash drive before accessing the files on these directories.
> So when does the system mount the device or when does it have access to it?
>
> This interests me also, because i want to move the /usr directory to the 2 GB internal flash drive because i need more space than 256 MB for user space programms.
> For example i want install a compiler + dev and documentation files on the device, that's why i will need the 2 GB for 
> the software.
>
> So it is save to move those directories and changing the /etc/fstab entry or could this result in a problem booting the device?
> If the latter is the case, is there a way to rescue the system?
>   
I think you're much better off by leaving the internal flash alone and
just booting straight from SD card. That would give you the space that
you need while allowing the device to boot without the card if needed.
This also simplfies upgrading or reflashing. Reflash the root, install
the SD boot option and mirror the internal flash to the SD card as
needed. I have chinook and diablo on my SD card, so I have three boot
options for testing and development.

Booting straight from SD card is less complex and gives you a better
rescue-style option.

Jason