Quote Originally Posted by turbine
On my system, knoppix 4.02, the file is /home/knoppix/.bashrc
The system always reads /etc/profile first, followed by .bash_profile or .bashrc if either of those exist. The exact rules are actually more complicated than this; if you want to know the gory details, have a read here.

Quote Originally Posted by turbine
Note that the filename starts with a dot, which makes it a hidden file. Once
you edit this file with your changes, you may have to su to root to do so
If you need su to edit anything in your home, then you have done something wrong at some point in the past.