Hi, Im a linux n00b and need help with install and partitioning, for that Im really sorry.

I have a new laptop (amd64 3400+, 512 ram) and have suse 9.1 pro 32bit dvd disk ready to install. Im not installing 64bit as it doesnt give any more speed and drivers arent supported yet.

The HDD is 80 GB and winxp c: primary partition was all of it. I downloaded partition magic 8.0 and resized this partition so that it was only 20 GB (NTFS). I then created a second partition (this partition is logical, contained within an extended partition), 30GB (FAT32, so linux and winxp can use it). This is my media (D for games, mp3s, digital media and stuff.

The remaining unallocated space (~26 GB is free) which I want to stick linux on.

1st question: Was it correct to make the media drive (D partition a logical partition? Net searches told me that there can only be one primary partition. Also, should I have left the free space as unallocated or should I have given it some linux filesystem?

Within the suse installation yast suggests a partitioning scheme that consists of only /root and swap. I know this works but I want the following....../root, swap, place for all software programs, place for my own data and work (my astronomy data which I am analysing).

2nd question : Whats this /home and /user partitions and where does it tie in with what I want?

3rd question : Lets suppose I have /root, swap, /home, /user. Where is the linux OS installed. I assume /root? And that /home and /user contain user data and software programs respectively, and will not be erased if say linux was reinstalled/updated at a later date?

Could someone please suggest a partitioning scheme (with partition sizes) for me given that there is 26 GB to play with, I want to install software programs in a seperate partition (/user ??), I want a partition (at least 10GB) for all my work files and analysis (/home ??). Also, Im not so happy about using using the expert partitioner in yast, do I need to be worried about primary or extended partitions while in there?

Cheers for any help anyone can give me. I just want to be clear before I install it.

dan

using 25gb for "/" and 1gb for "swap" would be great...

it's much more flexible than the other schemes you're thinking about using...

you'll have a "place" for all your stuff without having to make a special partition for it... plus you won't be limiting yourself to the size of the special partition, you'll have 25gb to use however you want... i know that with windows, one gets used to making special partitions and stuff, but there's really no reason to do that with linux (except for the swap partition)...

some clarification about the directories:

/ = the root folder, everyting on your linux system is in here... folders are branches and files are leaves, this is the bottom of the tree...

/home = the home folder, every regular user on your system will have a home folder in here with their name... all their stuff will be in that folder... this includes their documents and their configurations... examples: /home/mary, /home/charlie, etc...

/root = this is root's home folder, it includes root's docs and configs, etc...

But is the /home folder automatically setup in the install or do I have to define it when in yast. What I mean is, the yast auto partiton suggestion is swap and /root, it doesnt state anything about /home.

that's because all linux systems have a "/home"... you don't need to define any folders (they will all be set-up for you)... you define if you want to put a specific folder in a separate partition... it seems like the installer you are using already knows that NOT using separate partitions for specific folders is the most flexible setup you can have...