mr_bridger, no offense, and I don't know if you are one of the people I'm going to complain about. But your post sort of set me off. Don't assume I'm talking about you.

Target directories in the root fs is only one of many potential problems you can have installing from extras-devel. If we made up an extras-devel-optified repository (say), applications you found there wouldn't necessarily be any more suitable than applications you found in extras-devel-nonoptified.

I'm becoming a bit irritated at the boundless number of people who install out of extras-devel, ignoring the red flags, and then don't know how to deal with e.g. reduced root space issues. devel is for developers. It is not ready for testing by adventurous users. It is not ready for production. Programs you find there may not install (or deinstall) cleanly. Programs you find there may be half-baked, may be proof-of-concept, may be damaging.

You have to go out of your way to add devel to the repository list, and if you do then you should have some technical proficiency (or be willing and able to re-flash your device if you make a mess).