gagnonrchrd@netscape.net wrote:
: I am interested in partitioning a couple 80gb hdds and I need some
: guidance


I do not know what you mean by "couple of 80gb" hard drives. So I will
run through a scenario of having *two* 80Gb hard drives in one computer
and wanting to install system in one, keep data + backups on another. And
you want to make it mainly a single-user computer and not a server. Call one
"hda"(hard-disk A) the other "hdb".

I would use Ubuntu as a beginner. Only disadvantage is that stuff will
not be installed by default but they have excellent repositories for you
to auto-magically install stuff. Look for "Ubuntu Guide", it is a step by
step tool to follow.

So, wait till you get to the partitioning tool during installation. And
there, make partitions on *hda* :
1 Gb for /boot (stuff for booting the computer)
1 gb for /tmp (temporary files, so you keep it from expanding too much)
1 Gb for /var (for log files, again to keep it form expanding too much)
5Gb for /usr (for programs etc, make it larger if you need)
5gb for / (for other system realted stuff. random number I put there)
reminder as /home (for your user's files)

on hdb. make either an 80Gb partition and mount point as /home/data or
40Gb /home/data, 40Gb /home/backup. You can decide on the permissions
for these later on.

If you *only* want to access a partition tool and keep system install etc
separately, qtparted is the right tool. I like SystemRescueCD for that
purpose from this web-site: http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page

Alternatively, just pick up the defaults.
hth,

Turgut