[TriLUG] changing owner/permissions on a mounted file system

[Chris Bullock]

Got a new(to me) 250GB drive and slapped it into my dual-boot(Mandrake, 
Win98) machine.  I formated and mounted the drive as VFAT in order for 
my Windows part to see the drive and mounted it as var/ftp.  Problem is 
that I can't change the permissions.  If I do a chown cgb:cgb /var/ftp, 
I get a operation not permitted error.

Someone told me to edit my fstab to the mount it as the correct owner.  
That would be a possibility, but I would like to have the chance to 
change it from the command-line if I feel to do so.

Also, would it be wrong for root to be owner but chmod 777, if I was the 
only one accessing the machine?

What is the best resolution for my situation?
thanks,
--chris