I've changed my init level to 2 (in /etc/inittab) and now I'd like
to have some control over the initial user logged in and the
initial working directory.

I'd like the initial login to the console to switch to root
user and cd to /KNOPPIX

so that the user can immediately get a couple of scripts.
I considered editing /etc/profile but that seems a bit
of a brute solution.

Alternately if there was a way to control what is placed in
/ this might help. I find everything I put in / is actually
in /KNOPPIX afterward. It looks like / is generated on
the fly?

knoppix-autoconfig looks like my best bet so far, or
the knoppix.sh it looks for on the CD. I just need a place at
the end of the boot up process to insert my stuff.