My computer has 6GB RAM and Windows 8.1 64 bit.
I try to install kubuntu 14.04 64 bit by manual disk partition.
My current disk has 283GB Free Space.
(parted) print free
Model: ATA WDC WD10EZEX-22B (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: gpt
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
17.4kB 1049kB 1031kB Free Space
1 1049kB 840MB 839MB ntfs Basic data partition hidden, diag
2 840MB 1113MB 273MB fat32 EFI system partition boot
3 1113MB 1247MB 134MB Microsoft reserved partition msftres
4 1247MB 162GB 161GB ntfs Basic data partition msftdata
5 162GB 700GB 538GB ntfs Basic data partition msftdata
700GB 983GB 283GB Free Space
6 983GB 1000GB 16.9GB ntfs Basic data partition hidden, diag
1000GB 1000GB 729kB Free Space
Best Answer
In my experience, I always tend to go overboard with the size of the root partition. I also tend to assign 40-50 Gb to root, but I'm beginning to doubt that much space is actually necessary (correct me if I'm wrong). I'm currently running Kubuntu 14.04 on a new machine for about 6 months, and have installed as much software as I'll ever need (VirtualBox, wine, Calligra, Krita, etc.), but most apps' user data winds up in /home's hidden folders.
My system is only using about 10 of the 50 Gb...Perhaps the next time I'll try giving only 30 Gb to root, and keep those extra 20 for downloads, movies, etc. Your /home partition should definitely be the biggest, and as to your 16Gb swap...I'd say that's way beyond what you'll be needing. People used to recommend making swap double or triple your RAM capacity, but that was back when ram was measured in MB ;)
You won't be using your swap unless you used up all your RAM, which isn't all that likely. I have 8Gb of RAM, and even with Virtualbox using 4 of them, + tons od¡f apps in the background, (Firefox, Thunderbird, Ktorrent, Libreoffice, etc.), some of them fairly memory hungry, I've never reached anything near 8Gb, so my 4Gb swap aren't particularly being put to good use...