I am using SuSE v7.1 and am having problems that I suspect are related to permissions. I've been using Linux since before the RedHat Mother's Day release but have to admit that permissions remain a black box to me. I can connect to my ISP without any problems and can ping successfully. However, when I attempt to use an app, be it Netscape or a mail tool I always get the message that the server can't be found. I make the attempt as a user, but get the same result as root. I have change the ownership of the /usr branch of the file system to root.users. This allows me to run applications that I've installed as root, but, as I said, I can't seem to connect to anything external to my system. Something else that I've noticed. Even though I changed the /usr branch ownership with the -R switch some of the directories below /usr remained as root.root. I've attempted reading the fine manuals, but apparently haven't identified the correct one. Any insights will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.