Hi Richard.

The read-only is probably due to the fact that you are trying to edit the file as a normal user and not the super user. That is good actually. You should not run as the super user, but you do need to do alot of configuration as the super user. To become the super-user temporarily type:
It will ask for the password which you hopefully know. Then go and edit the file and you should be able to save it. Make sure to type exit to get out of the super user account.

Also are you using emacs? or what editor are you using? If you have it, try pico. It is much more simple to use...

Now, when you say that the console is being brought up in a small window are you saying that your entire X-Window system is in the 4"x4" window or is it simply the console window? If it is the console window, just increase your font size and it should make the window bigger to compensate. If it is the entire window system, you definitely have a configuration problem.

One more thing, I am using Slackware so this may not work for you. Under slackware, tty6 is kept as a text console which is very convenient when X is giving you problems. Pressing ctrl-alt-F6 will take you to tty6. X-Windows is back on 7, so pressing ctrl-alt-F7 will take you back. Again, this is Slackware and I can't guarantee that will work under other flavors of linux.

Hope this helps! Good luck and welcome to the wide world of Linux!

__________________
The best damn Sports Blog period.