I third the opinion with C.

Edit: And also try to start with a good book. I recommend "A Book on C, 4th edition".

Well, many thanks! It seems as though we have converged on C. Thanks for the recommendations/insights.

C really isn't all that difficult, it's just more complex than languages such as Python. The first language I attempted to learn was C++; C was quite the breath of fresh air.

Sergei's idea of two languages is very good. I was also going to learn C and Perl or Python or Ruby. I decided that C++ would also be good, but now I'm sticking with GNOME and GTK and so I only need C for anything I'd want to do, and a higher level language like Perl, Python, or Ruby. Perl is a good language, and widely used for Unix system administration, and Python and Ruby are good. I like Ruby in a way, but Python is very popular.
IBM's site has an article on Python for system administration, so not everyone thinks Perl is the only good language for system administrators...
Now that I've learned a lot of C/C++, I've decided to stick with C and a higher level language. Python being so popular is part of the reason I'd stick with it. I agree that it doesn't seem to be the best language there is, and they're making a large amount of changes to it from 2.x to 3.x, but it is a good language, I think. I'm still a little undecided, but I'm going to skip spending a lot of time on C++. (or more specifically, as much time as other languages like C and Perl/Python/or Ruby.)

He did stick to that. He didn't say "don't use Python", he said C and Perl... his problem with Python was an afterthought.
And pointing out (even personal opinions of) flaws is helpful. When people complain about people giving personal opinions, they're forgetting that something being a problem in someone's personal opinion doesn't mean that it isn't a problem. Python has problems... it's not a perfect language.
And it's easy to learn in a way, an easy language to start with in a way, and in a way it isn't. Very high level languages like Python have so many language-specific features that you get completely side-tracked from learning about programming in general and have to spend hours learning about the language-specific features and how they do things. C and C++ are great languages for learning a lot, I would start with C for learning programming, it is a little challenging but once you get used to it, filling in the blanks is very easy. For learning OOP, learn C++. Like I said, I can't give a great recommendation for very high-level languages like Perl/Python/Ruby.
I really like and dislike all of them in some way. Ruby I can't think of having any problems with, but I haven't spent a long time learning it. I think that Ruby is a better language than Python.

Maybe you should have a look at this: Eric Raymond: Why Python
That sounds to me as a perfect language for beginners.

I've read a free book or tutorial, at least, on Perl, Python, Ruby, C, C++... I don't see how Python is really better in almost any way I can think of (other than its popularity) than any of them. I'm not a software engineer or an expert of any kind, I'm only a hobbyist, but I'm not that impressed with Python. It's good, but it's not amazing or perfect.

I like C/C++ more than anything, really, but I don't have a real reason to use C++, exactly. Unless I learn GTK programming using both C and C++ (instead of just C), but I don't think I'd have a real reason to... I don't have a problem with C++, but I'd like to really learn a lot about C (I have "C in a Nutshell"), I already know a lot about it, and I'd like to learn a higher level language like Perl/Python/Ruby.
That's what I'd like to do anytime soon... C++ isn't going anywhere and I don't have a problem with it, but for now I'd like to stick with C and a higher language. I just don't know which one to choose.
I really like C, and GTK programming mainly being done in C is a good thing for me, and another good reason for me to use C, because I like GNOME more than KDE. I've tried over and over again to get used to KDE, and I'll never do it.

Nobody says its perfect in itself, I said to me it seems perfect for beginners:
- easy to understand
- somewhat selfexplaining
- forces you to structurize your code, making it easier to read

Of course there are other languages, that are good for beginners, but for me Python seems to be also a very good one.

It's a good first language, but it's not an amazing or perfect first language.

I'll probably end up sticking with it though, because it is very good and it's a very widely used and popular language.

So, now that I have decided on C, can someone suggest a good place to start for learning. Ideally Id like not to spend a huge amount on a book. Can someone suggest a good C tutorial/book (pdf etc) that would be good to a programming beginner?

Maybe http://www.nongnu.org/c-prog-book/online/index.html ?

There are several listed here:
http://www.freeprogrammingresources.com/cppbooks.html

some are C++.

If you were to buy just one book, you should probably buy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_C_P...age_%28book%29

Also, bookmark this site:
http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/clibrary/
it may come in handy to look up functions and stuff, I use it once in a while.

If you find the one complete book that teaches you the language and serves as a language reference, and all the ground in between, I'd like to see it and meet the author. I've bough a pretty large number of programming and other computer oriented books over the years, and for any given subject of interest, I always found it took at least two, often three or four books to get a good coverage of the material. Of course a lot of that is now unnecessary since Google came along. Still, you are starting from ground zero, and assuming that you advance at a decent pace, you will outgrow the tutorial-oriented books fairly quickly. Even a short time after you start, you're going to want a reference style book that provides the details of the various standard functions. The man pages are okay for that, but I don't find it as easy to track things down that way, and you really can't scribble notes in the margins of man pages.
I just tried using Eclipse as an IDE for C, and if you have the right version (mine came with Fedora 9, IIRC), it has pretty good assistance for the language. If you don't already know Eclipse, and you probably wouldn't if you've never programmed before, it may simply add another layer of unkowns to your objective, however.
Good luck with your venture.

--- rod.