Changing the read-only file attribute

[Burritonator]

I'm having an inordinate amount of trouble performing what would seem to be a very easy task. What I need to do is to change the file "/etc/httpd/httpd.conf" from read-only to read/write permission. Keep in mind that I am still fairly new to the Macintosh world.

I know how to change this attribute by navigating to a file using Finder, selecting "Get Info" from the menu, and accessing the "Owners & Permissions" option. The problem that I am having is that I can't find the httpd.conf file by using Finder. If I open a terminal window, I can navigate to the directory /etc/httpd/ and see the file httpd.conf there.

I have two questions:

1. Why don't all of the directories under the root directory show up in Finder? For instance, the only folders I see when I select the hard drive in Finder are Applications, Library, System, User Guides, and Users. When I open a terminal window and view the root directory, I see these directories, plus all of the directories related to Linux, such as bin, etc, usr, and var. If I search for the file httpd.conf using Finder, it doesn't find it, even though I know it exists on the drive.

2. How can I change a file from read-only to read/write from within the terminal window? I found a Linux help site which indicated the command "File Attributes httpd.conf -readonly" should accomplish this, but when I execute this command, the system doesn't recognize the -readonly switch. (It actually interpretes each character as a seperate switch and gives a series of error messages such as "File: unknown option -- r", "File: unknown option -- e", etc.)

Thanks in advance for any help that anyone can offer.