486 Server: partition sizes, ACE 5000, firewall, webmin, wine, newbie Plug meetings

[fredlogo]

Well I have decided to built a 486 Linux box to tie my DSL line into and
then network from there.   I'll be  using SuSE linux 6.2.

Partitions:   Some of the linux security info  I've read suggests putting
/var, /usr, and other directories on separate partitions.  How big should I
make these partitions?  Is there a percentage of drive space that each
should be allotted?

ACE 5000 MWave modem:   I have a voice modem, soundcard, CD-rom control
combination card and a non-ide cdrom.  Have any of you been able to
configure these to run under Linux?  I'm more interested in the sound card
and the cd-rom but could use the modem for an answering machine.

Firewall:   I've read about ipchains and other firewall configurations. What
is the easiest to install and configure that would enable me to just get up
and running and have some protection until I get more Linux acclimated?

Webmin: Is this the simplest way to go on setting up and administering  my
Linux server.

Windows 98:  I still will have to use Windows applications for my business
and have been trying to connect to Wine headquarters at www.winehq.com.  is
that url no longer valid?

There was some discussion about having Newbie meetings to help newbies get
started.
Have those started or stalled?

Thanks,
Fred