is there a bulk app downloader for the n900 where u can select the updates u want to do instead of 1 or all
and select the downloads u want then install them rather than 1 by 1 with the apps manger having to refresh after each download and spending a day installing apps

that would be nice, the app manager refresh time is really annoying. I usually just use a shell script now to install a bunch of apps. saves me time too if I have reflashed.

If you use apt-get from xterm you can specify as many as you want all at once.

In app manager itself you could fake a backup file and then restore from it, but that's not very convenient.

I agree that the application manager would be better if it let you mark packages to install and then did them all in one batch.

dont really understand linux or xterm properly to want to use it all the time
is there a run down on xterm commands etc somewhere to to familiarize myself
its so much easier with things that have a good gui tho

Install rootsh from the repository.

Then open X-Terminal. Close the application manager if running.

Check for new updates:
Search for a package:
e.g.
This will list the matching packages.

Install one or more packages:
e.g.
Uninstall packages:
Uninstall things no longer required by any package (the application manager does this automatically, but with apt-get you need to do it manually):
From time to time you can clear the cache of downloaded packages to free more space on the internal flash: