Text editor won't let me edit conf files. How do I?

[David Ward]

I'm not good at the command line (Just past newbie).  I try to edit .conf files to set up samba but the text editor tells me I don't have permission.  All of the system admin functions ask me for authorization and then let me do whatever but not the text editor.  I have added the gdm group to  the directories the gnome docs told me to (/run/gdm).  I have added the gdm group to my user group profile.  How can I get a GUI text editor to let me edit .conf files?

Thanks up front for any replies.

RHFC-10  out of the box on a Dell D600

Dave.

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