Beginner programmer, which language

[locutus24]

Well as the title states im a beginner programmer, the deepest my programming language goes is intermediate HTML. I was considering now with linux maybe to get into programming, but i cant decide which language would be the best to begin with to get a sturdy base. I have no real preferences but i have been considering maybe C++, but im not real sure of how complex it is as far as being a language. My goal is to just design basic progs, nothing really fancy maybe some small tools.
Also i only know about C++ cause i have not really learned what the other languages are, cause when i had a windows box i considered doing C++ but never got around to doing so.
Also sorry about the long post, i just wanted to say everything that seemed relevant

[HungSquirrel]

I'd suggest an object-oriented interpreted language so you learn good programming practices and don't have to worry about things like memory management, etc. Java's a pretty decent first language. Python and Ruby are decent second languages because there are some GREAT programming guides for those languages aimed at people who already understand object-oriented programming.

I'm not much of a programmer, so you should wait for someone who knows a little more to reply before you dive in.

[bored2k]

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=20406