[Xastir] Adding offline maps?

[Steven May]

First let me say that due to much help from various web sites and posts 
from the mailing list archive, I now have Xastir running!  (And I am 
new to anything Unix-like.)  I am running Mac OS 10.3, with an 
installation of X11, made possible by the excellent instructions on 
N1OFZ's web site.  i followed his instructions, and Xastir works pretty 
good. After a bit of reading readme's, etc., I was able to get the 
program to connect via an APRS server, and also with my Kenwood D7 
connected via a USB to serial converter.  Xastir will load the online 
terraserver, tiger and toposerver maps fine.  Quite a successful 
weekend's work.

Since one of my main goals in having Xastir is to provide tracking in 
the field, away from internet access, I now need to find out how to add 
maps offline.  I downloaded the Tiger maps that are in shapefile format 
from http://xastir.tamu.edu/ as a start.  Even after reading more in 
the readme's and online, I am now stuck as to how to proceed.  If I am 
to copy the files to the maps directory I have the problem of an error 
message saying permission denied.  If there is some other program to 
run, I must have missed seeing it.

Thanks for any assistance.

Steve
N1ESC