First of all,

 

Im not even sure what Unix is... I have used google and it's unbeliebavle how all of these sites ramble on without getting to the point.

 

My understanding is that it is an operating system.

 

If my lecturer is telling me that I have to change the file permissions on my website, can i do this with Unix??

 

I thought this could be done easily through FTP, where you right click the file and set permissions from there?

 

Whats the difference doing them this way to doing it under Unix?

Unix/Linux/Windows/Mac os are operating systems - what makes your computer run

 

I think what he/she is trying to explain is the Unix chmod command, which can be run as a command line - see link for more background ...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chmod