Using the latest distribution of Debian for the Raspberry Pi, I wanted add myself as a user and connect to a network share. Here are the steps I took:

install a couple of programs:
# apt-get update
# apt-get upgrade
# apt-get install minicom joe

set default shell to bash, add new user with groups, and set that users password:
# useradd -D -s /bin/bash
# useradd -m -G adm,dialout,cdrom,sudo,audio,video,plugdev,games,users,input <username>
# passwd <username>

created a directory to be shared, and add the samba share to /etc/fstab:
# mkdir /home/raspberry
# nano /etc/fstab

and added this to the end:
//<ip address>/<share> /home/raspberry cifs username=<username>,password=<password>,_netdev,uid=<username> 0 0

set sshd to start on boot:
# dpkg-reconfigure ssh

and removed the console serial output to allow me to use the UART:
http://www.irrational.net/2012/04/19/using-the-raspberry-pis-serial-port/