Wanna increase the timeout (delay) in Grub, allowing more [choice] time before default boot (i.e. Linux vs. DOS-WindowsXP).

Two books (one of which is the accompanying manual for my [RedHat 9] CD's, say to go to:

/etc/grub.conf

and make changes. Logged in as root, opened up Terminal, and offered the above code. Permission was denied. Where am I going wrong?

you have to edit this file, not try to run it

if you are using X windows edit it by running terminal logging in as root and typing

kedit /etc/grub.conf &

this is just a text file, you will want to change the line timeout=
it is in seconds so change it to 10 or 15. then save the file and you are done.

just ask if any more help needed.

Share the joy...my first ever real, successful foray into the jungle of Linux (except for the stab at playing Solitaire). AIN'T NO STOPPIN' ME NOW!!

Actually, my first edit requirement was to modify your suggestion. 'kedit' became 'gedit', and to figure that out, I hadda dig for, and find a command ('man -k edit') to see what possibilities existed. To do that, I hadda do some reading (with, at long last, a little sense of direction), to come up with what I did. 'gedit' refers to a simple editor based in (or on) GNOME. My guess is (and I just thought of this) that your 'kedit' refers to the twin request in KDE?

My point being, I've just learned how to:

a) do some basic digging
b) get a basic command to where it belongs to do my bidding
c) believe that there may be some future to this Linux stuff

Feel the love, my friend. You were the volunteer at the dock who offered my first gentle nudge out into the waters! As the man (now Governor) said, "I'll be back!".

yeah welcome to the open side, though i still run a dual system (need windows for games)

but u are right gedit is a gnome based text editor and kedit is a KDE based editor. i mainly do a lot of my text editing stuff in the terminal and my personal preference is "pico" if u have it installed, if u want to become a linux master learn to use "vi" not exactly a straight foreward proggy but good and quick once you learn how to use it. :-)

Appreciate the comments and help. Certain I will be forever doomed to 'sitting on the fence'. Land surveying and constr. superintending keep me tied to a lot of applications that are Windows based. The more I learn, though, the more I wanna try to blend over. Where's the limit? Who knows? Ultimately, can I port a small Linux OS, along with required applications, to any computer? One thing I guess I gotta learn is to leave proper English, punctuation, etc. etc. out of these forums. Dead giveaway. NEWBIE STRAIGHT AHEAD!!!

ok, thnx fr th hlp. im drftin out into th watrs now, nvr to be bck whr i once were. Linux likes me.