[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bamtan2:
Edit:

There has been no new information provided in this thread about how big /cache NEEDS to be. To me it seems like /cache is simply unused. It's there for Google to use with stock ROMs, which we do not use anymore. So redistributing storage from /cache to /system makes good sense to me. Exactly how much should be removed from /cache is up for debate, but if we take most of it away, that improves /system significantly, and still leaves ~100mb in /cache for contingency.

[MENTION=4544860]osm0sis[/MENTION] has contributed work which will allow an enthusiast to shrink their /cache and add that space to /system. Because of the way [MENTION=2633638]Ziyan[/MENTION]'s ROMs are flashed, flashing a ROM will revert any change you make to /system back to the default size, until you "use 'resize FS' option in TWRP" according to [MENTION=4356181]defy_owner[/MENTION]. http://xdaforums.com/galaxy-nexus/d...n-2-0-gnp2-t3147253/post64482777#post64482777

[MENTION=4544860]osm0sis[/MENTION]' flashable script UPDATE-GN.PIT.Editor.zip is an excellent bit of work contributed to the community of users and developers -- users can modify their devices themselves, and ROM developers now know better than ever how to make the switch to a bigger /system when necessary. Thank you ALL for your contributions to this thread!!!

Original post:

Per: http://xdaforums.com/galaxy-nexus/d...eta-builds-t3060319/post60805347#post60805347 and http://xdaforums.com/galaxy-nexus/d...eta-builds-t3060319/post61089590#post61089590 -- I'm an interested newbie and not a developer, but I will try to contribute where I can... firstly by starting this thread. :)

The /system and /cache partition sizes on Nexus devices have changed multiple times since Galaxy Nexus launched. By the time the 64bit Nexus 9 launched, /system had more than doubled in size! Luckily we don't need to worry about accommodating 64bit binaries. We also don't necessarily need to accommodate the giant Google Apps packages that Google includes, because Google provides most of those apps on the Play Store.

But we DO need more space if we want more FLEXIBILITY in the future. Flexibility to add features... flexibility to migrate to larger versions of Android... If we want Galaxy Nexus to survive to 2020, we need flexibility!

If the community developers for Galaxy Nexus can come to an agreement, we can all standardize on one partition layout to move forward with. That way, flashing back and forth between new OS distribuitions will be easy. So because I'm not a developer, I'll do my part by helping this discussion get started. I'll invite some developers to this thread who I've seen active. Anyone can of course participate. Then, when the smart people have said what they think, we can decide where to go from there. :) I'll begin by inviting: [MENTION=2633638]Ziyan[/MENTION] [MENTION=4608636]bsmitty83[/MENTION] [MENTION=3390093]MWisBest[/MENTION] [MENTION=4022928]Carlos_Manuel[/MENTION] [MENTION=1048318]zzpianoman[/MENTION] [MENTION=4544860]osm0sis[/MENTION] [MENTION=6140342]Fenix46[/MENTION] [MENTION=5773568]theBlackEnd[/MENTION] [MENTION=4920940]sgspluss[/MENTION] [MENTION=2838735]aosp[/MENTION]

The plan here is for you guys to debate with each other about this topic. To start the debate, I will start with an opening statement which is not necessarily my opinion. Then I will provide a list of helpful proposed tasks which volunteers can complete. I will then list a discussion agenda which you may or may-not want to talk about.

Opening statement: Galaxy Nexus partitions are out of date, but don't need much change (if any at all). But because F2FS on /data is faster and also requires a phone wipe, we should make both of these changes at once. The incremental hassle of doing one change on top of the other is minimal. The exact partition sizes don't matter. Because the Nexus 5 partition layout seems sufficient for future flexibility, we should just copy it. It was not designed for Android L or M like Nexus 6 was, but the Nexus 5 layout is close enough to "good enough".

Tasks v0.1:

0) What are the partition sizes of every Nexus device?

1) What are the partition sizes of popular 16GB NON-Nexus devices? Does Google have suggestive documentation for hardware developers?

Discussion Agenda v0.2:

-1)If F2FS is good for users, and a new partition layout is good for users, and BOTH require destructive migration of users' data, should we make both changes at the same time?

0) What are the obvious pros/cons of changing the partition layout? How do we balance the needs of the people who want LOTS of new space against those who need NO new space?

1) How long do we expect this size change to be sufficient for the community? 1 year or 10? Until Google stops supporting Nexus 5 or 6, or long after?

2) Decide how big /system should be. How much margin for future growth? Is there a rationale for any given size, or is choosing a round number ("1GB") as good as any?

3) Decide how big /cache should be. Is shrinking it a good idea? Would that saved space be large enough to matter? Is there risk of compatibility problems?

4) Reality check: Is it okay that we're thinking of shrinking the /data partition this much? What are the negative repercussions?

5) How do we maintain our development work and migrate all developers into the future? Do we maintain two different builds of the OS in parallel for some time? What timeline can we operate this way? 1 month or 1 year?

6) Does anyone absolutely OPPOSE attempting to standardize on a new partition layout for community development?

I invite any interested developer to speak about any topic. You are the people who really matter, because you volunteer to do the real work the rest of us need. Let's begin. Good luck to us all! :)