On debian I use this partions set. / 5 GB /boot 256Mb /swap depends on ram ( 2,5x ram ) /usr 6 GB /usr/local 1 GB ( depend on extra none distro software ) /var 5 GB /var/lib 10GB ( for me because of mysql database inhere ) /var/log 2 GB put logs here, also less defragmentation, and save filling / /tmp 1 GB /home left overs.