Got the N900 some days ago, mostly because the interesting talk on the forums on the ovi maps on the n900 just being an html + js app. Reason is that the maps by default have no voice navigation, but now there is hope...
I also installed a lot of applications, mostly for the fun of it. Very important of those are the Wifi Switcher (which unloads the wifi kernel module to save power) and the Autodisconnect utility (which disconnects wifi after a short time, but doesn't unload the module). Both are just shell scripts, so its possible to have Autodisconnect actually unload the wifi modules. Have done it in the past, need to do it again.
Also power related: my heldon-desktop showed rather high cpu usage (4%-6%) while not being used. Turns out this is triggered but not caused by the lovey catorise - hildon-desktop has a bug. Nokia does not work on it anymore, but opensourced the code, and the brave Tomast fixed the bug. Hurray.
For getting more out of the fm-radio, a custom fmtxd is recommended by people in #maemo. Instructions amount to copy and restart, but it doesn't make a lot of a difference...
For configuring codecs for voip, edit /etc/stream-engine/gstcodecs.conf, described here
disabling autoupdate: "You can do so by editing the gconf file found in /var/lib/gconf/apps/hildon/update-notifier and changing the check interval from 1440 (24 hours) to a much larger value. The value must not exceed 4,294,967,295."
In case of recovery:
set fixed ip on home network
install:
fapman
openssh
rootsh
vim
python!
bash (make it also the default shell)
AutoDisconnect
Desktop Command Execution Widget
root?
show commands on desktop widget
scout
catorize
hilden desktop from above
Multiboot
I tried to install multiboot and backupmenu (which is a fantastic tool to have), and ended up with multiboot only showing one entry - backupmenu. Turns out you can press 0 to boot the standard os. Hurray. Thanks MohammadAG!