Simple little basic config questions

[brownh@hartford-hwp.com (Haines Brown)]

In moving from RedHat to debian, I'm left with some simple little
basic configuration questions. They all relate to a situation in which
I operate at this point from console. 

1. Where do I set the global bash prompt format? I changed PS1= in 
   /etc/profile, but that only affects user, not root.

2. I had placed the command "setterm -blank 0" in RedHat's
   /etc/rc.d/rc.local to block screen blanking while running in
   console. Debian does not use that file. What is its equivalent?

3. My usual practice is to avoid xdm and boot to a text login
   prompt. To do this, in rc2.d I belive I edited the symlink to the
   xdm program, renaming "S99xdm ->..." to "K99xdm ->...". But in
   debian I get a beep when I try. Am I imagining I once edited the
   name of a symlink? Can't one do it in debian?

Haines Brown