Creating DataBases on Suse LINUX Platform

Hi...

I have SuSe LINUX 9.1 running on a Compaq P4; the sys admin people installed
PostgreSQL 7.4.2.

I am trying to work my way through the on-line documentation but; I have a
problem right at the start. I cannot
figure out how to create databases or users. The documentation suggests :
You will need to become the
operating system user under which PostgreSQL was installed (usually
postgres) to create the first
user account.
According to the sys people it was installed over the network; presumably as
the "root" user. As a result,
I have tried to create db's and users as my LINUX login name; root & as the
user postgres....
they all give me the same error message : could not connect to database
template1: FATAL:  IDENT
authentication failed for user "postgres"; and there does not seem to be any
explanation in the documentation.
I am running out of user accounts to try; any help in this regard would be
greatly appreciated; as well as any
other things I should "look-out" for at the beginning.
Thanking you in advance,
Larry Cook
Geodetic Surveys Branch
Information Services Corp of Sask
tel (306) 787-2828