Wow, thank you for the quick reply. Very good to know. But is there no difference between all the /bin/sh, /bin/bash, /bin/ash, /bin/bsh, /bin/ksh, /bin/csh, /bin/tcsh?

are they just giving access to a different set of commands? And if so which set has the most?

One thing i am having trouble with is editing or uploading files to most every folder beneath the webroot. that is, I seem to have access to the 'cgi-bin' folder and a folder called 'private' but almost every other folder beneath the webroot 'httpdocs' folder cant be modified by me. some cant even be read.
I have been trying to work on them through ftp and sftp. i also have a ssh shell but i dont see a way to upload anything using ssh.

any ideas how i can set permissions or modify access to these folders?
Thanks again