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Unless you have a fast connection, it might be best to head over to Cheapbytes and buy one of their CD's. You can probably pick one up for less than $5, which lets you skip all the downloading.
I wouldn't suggest using RedHat. Just because it's the most popular doesn't mean it's particularly good. Instead, try Slackware. It has a reputation for being difficult and hardcore, but it's actually one of the easiest to use if you have some time on your hands. Unlike with RedHat, Mandrake, etc., you get a real feeling of using a quality system when you log in. It sets you up with a lot of good defaults (for example, a VESA console, for a nice looking 1024x768 command line, and a super easy X setup). It probably won't give you any problems, which is more than I can say about RedHat and similar distros (this is probably the most important thing for a new user. I've had several friends decide they hated linux after having lots of trouble and frustration with the 'easier' distros like RedHat).
Good choice here. It'll take a while to get used to, though, if you've never used it before.
Perl is a very good choice. I'm not as much of a fan of Java, but it has many good uses.
Unfortunately, there isn't much choice in this field right now. Hopefully that will change in the not-so-distant future.
Yes, most popular distros come with one or both, but I'd personally suggest something like WindowMaker or Blackbox. I'm not sure if either of those come with most distros by default. I don't think they
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