'Proper' partitioning

[Alex <radsky ncia net>]

My RedHat 5.2 seems to be working OK with just two partitions ' / ' and 
' swap '.  The reason for just these two partitions is that I don't have
slightest idea of which other partitions to set up and how large to make
them.  Much of the literature about partitioning seems outdated,
discussing  old hard drives of 1GB and less (shared with another OS) and
mine is a full 2.7 GB available for Linux.  The RedHat installation
guide comes close to specifics but still misses the mark.

I have the impression that partitioning is a matter of the intended use
of the computer, involving  'educated guessing' and that if the guess is
wrong, the benefit of partitioning ends up in the mind of the
partitioner.

What advantage would 'proper' partitioning of 2.7 GB provide compared to
just the two basic / and swap partitions in a single computer /
multi-user / non-specific application?

What would you recommend for partitions as a starter for someone in my
situation?  Is it true that only one partition should be growable?