Changing DNS settings on Thompson Gateway TG585 in Linux

[#1]

I was trying to change the DNS servers to use OpenDNS and came across this post on how to do it http://community.plus.net/library/dns/how-to-change-the-default-dns-servers-in-a-thomson-speedtouch-...
I use Linux (Debian) so I was trying to telnet into 192.168.1.254 from the terminal.
This is the output:
[user@mepis1 ~]$ telnet
telnet> 192.168.1.254
?Invalid command
telnet>
Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong?

[#2]

You need to type "telnet", then a space, then the IP address all on the same line (same as in Windows).

[#3]

What a relief it's so simple OpenDNS running now. Many thanks ejs.