Server/OS/Dev environment

[Jean]

Hi.  I am new to Python, but very eager to learn.  I've browsed many
postings and found conflicting opinions on the best backend and
development setup.  In fact, I am more confused now that when I first
began investigating this problem.

I need to create web pages with MySQL as the primary data source. 
What would be the best server set up for this?  RH?  Windows? 
mod_python?  Spyce?  Some other templating mechanism?

To develop such a site, should I be using Vim?  Idle?  Or Windows gui
software?  Install MySQL & Python on Windows?  Stick with Linux?

A multitude of choices is great for the gurus, but not necessarily so
for a newbie...

Thanks for any comments,
Jean