For the budding student, Ubuntu is a fantastic idea. Good idea also with LAMP. I recommend using simply phpmyadmin for your backend work as it's simple and intuitive. Get XChat and stay tuned to the #ubuntu, #python, #apache, channels etc for instant assistance. I believe there's a Dr. Python IDE/Interpreter, similar to Dr. Scheme... if you look in Synaptic and do a search for python, you'll find a few IDEs you can install and take for a whirl. I have Netbeans and Eclipse installed, but for quick throwaway programs, nothing beating the terminal, Vi and/or Gedit.

Best of luck!