Okay, I didn't mean they were "fake." I just meant they were unwieldy, in my experience, for writing something like a web browser or some other major desktop app. I wholeheartedly support shell scripting! It's very important. I still mean to say that you need to know what you are looking to write before you go choosing a language. Certain languages are suited to some things and not others.

That is the first question you should ask yourself, actually. ;)

One thing you might learn, from a tinkering-with-Linux point-of-view, is shell scripts. Surprised no one mentioned them yet. They aren't really "programming" in the sense of creating apps, but they are fun and a cool part of Linux.