Many methods exist.
Open up terminal, by whatever name it is called - Konsole, gnome-terminal, xterm, eterm, and type
and then use whatever commands are needed. In case you are lost for commands, type help.
You can also use a graphical ftp client like Filezilla or FireFTP, which is an extension for Firefox.
In that case your friend will need to run a FTP client like Filezilla, proFTPd, slimFTPd or something.
Else, I guess you can enable filesharing on a single folder and put required files in that folder and make necessary transfers. But, in this case, if your friend is running windows, you will need Samba. to the best of my knowledge.
There maybe other methods too, someone else can help you with them.
Also, if you can get more specific about the details of which OS you and your friend are running, is FC 4 used on server or on your computer,since you are saying 'My college uses FC4'.