I found that this change goes back to moodle 1.8.3 [1] to address the ext2 limitation of 32000 directories [1], also a script was added on the admin section [2] and can be used via web or CLI. Anyway I think it's good idea to add information on the package documentation.
[1] http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=82208 [2] http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-8605 [3] admin/fixuserpix.php located normally on Debian on /usr/share/moodle/admin -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-bugs-dist-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org