[texhax] footnote

[mr at xosoftware.dk]

Hi,
I am trying to make changes to how my
footnotes are set. Normally, the index of the
footnote is superscripted, but I want it to
be normalized. In Lamport's Latex book it
says that I can make rename the relevant
package, i.e. footmisc.sty (to
'fspFootmisc.sty), make the changes I want in
the new file, and add usepackage{fspFootmisc}
to my .tex-document. When I do this I get the
following error:

Package `vmargin', V2.2, <1999/06/01>
)
(/usr/local/stow/share/texmf/tex/latex/misc/a4wide.sty
(/usr/local/stow/share/texmf/tex/latex/ntgclass/a4.sty))
(fspFootmisc.sty
 
! LaTeX Error: Missing \begin{document}.
 
See the LaTeX manual or LaTeX Companion for
explanation.
Type  H <return>  for immediate help.
 ...
                                            
      
l.29 E
      xp rf $

I am working on a system at my university
where I cannot place packages in the latex
folder. I can only put new packages in my own
account/folder: Must I make changes in my
shell? This last question might reveal just
how little I know about this whole subject.
Thanks
Martin