[sclug] Newbie, partitioning 120Gb HDD - recommendations?

[Douglas Brown]

Greetings all, (I introduced myself in another posting)

I am a newbie & trying to set up a SUSE 9 system at home on a blank 120Gb hard 
disk. This disk will be dedicated to one Linux system, so no multi-boot 
complications.

Can anyone point me in the right direction for info on partitioning a huge HDD? 
I have looked on the web sites for HantsLUG, SLUG, and SCLUG, and I have 
googled, all in vain. All the info I've found to date assumes a "large" disk is 
no more than 10 - 20 Gb; beyond that it's "trust Yast". Um, has anyone actually 
tried that? For me Yast suggested setting up partitions as follows ...
* 60 Gb root
* 10 Mb Swap (approx)
* 60 Gb something else (/home? /usr? I forget)

OK I understand why it's put /swap in the middle of the disk (reduces head 
movement). But 60 Gb just for root seems completely ridiculous. Please correct 
me if I was wrong, but I abandoned that, and I am now looking for 
recommendations on how to split this disk up.

Yes I know, "it's horses for courses". So here's the shape of my course ...

I intend to dump M$ and use this system as my serious workhorse : email, 
browsing, WP & other office apps, DTP, image editing, web authoring, plus some 
small scale scripting (initially TCL), midi music & sequencing. Mega amounts of 
space needed for photos. Lots of space needed for apps (I expect to be using 
this system for a *long* while). I also like the idea of many separate 
partitions as a damage limitation measure against viruses & other attacks.

Now here's the killer. My Win98 system has died and I need to get this going 
quickly (deadlines coming up). Can anyone think of any sources of information 
or guide lines, please?

MTIA -- Douglas Brown

PS - Sorry, but due to time pressure, I have to cast my net wide and have 
posted on all 3 nearby LUG lists. If that offends, please accept my apologies.