I sat down with someone who is more proficient in Linux and here is what he found.
the only owner in the website was my account.
He changed the permission on moodledata to 777 which ALMOST worked.
the submission box appeared, and I could insert a file, but it wouldn't finalize the upload.
He then tried setting the file to 0775.
He also set /filedir to 0775.
That worked. He surmised that maybe Moodle was smart enough to not allow 0777.
Things are apparently working now. I was able to upload some assignments and grade them.
Thanks for your help.