Greetings!

I am currently looking for a "simple hobbyist" programming language compatible with Linux ..... Red Hat 9 - 2.4.xx kernel compatible if possible?

My career path would not be helped by going to the extreme of learning C++ / Java / Perl ..... etc ...... all I wanna do is play =) ..... however I have little playtime (freetime) these days (Wife, kiddies etc =) )

Does such a language still exist that I can just fall into it with very little reading (I'm thinking Qbasic with mouse support {please no threads about QBasics serial mouse plugins =P })

I mainly coded ..... For fun .....

Artifical Intelligence Applications - (or should I just call them large searchable databases of instances (Remember Eliza? Link below ..... not my code but I enjoyed playing with the idea!)
http://www-ai.ijs.si/eliza/eliza.html

Fractal Redering Programs - Therefore a decent math engine would be nice but not essential - as long as the suggested language had support for a screen mode of approx 1024*768 and mouse support.

Solutions To Puzzles - I.E. the quickest Rubix Cube solution from any given state of the current colours.

Currently my thoughts are to try Python - I have read a little of the documentation and it seems ok - but still a rather long winded programming language (with regard to learning curve)

Any simpler languages out there you could suggest please? - I considered XBasic and serveral "clones" however they seem to be as easy to learn as a mainstream language such as Python would be.

Input Appreciated - Thanks Folks ..... Svha

Normally im an advocate or C/C++ but if you want something that you can just fall into, id suggest perl. Its structured similar to C , but its easy to pick up. Plus, there are modules for just about anything, including GUIs and network support.

Maybe python, easy to start

For Eliza, fire up emacs and type Esc-x doctor. For a spin on Eliza, type Esc-x psychoanalyze-pinhead. That will pipe quotations from Zippy the Pinhead in response to questions from Eliza.

For AI, you might want to look at prolog. It is not, however, an easy language to pick up. Or you might want to try LISP, since with emacs, you have a good environment to learn it.

Steve