Yeah the on-screen in Maemo 4 stinks (though I still use it for quick one-offs).. From what it seems like in maemo 4, the Onscreen is an app, which should make it pretty easy to replace with something more functional and less screen hungry. Hopefully the same is true for Maemo 5.

This type of thing could easily be implemented in python. Perhaps it's worth look into (somebody other than me)...

}:^)~