Starting out PIC Programming

[zxcvbn]

I've been looking into doing some PIC Programming, but unlike some of the other microcontrollers available the sheer number of different chips available has caused me some confusion. It also appears that some of the chips suggested on some sites as good choices for people starting out with PIC programming may have been superseded (or I may just be getting even more confused).

So my question boils down to three parts:

What would be a good PIC chip to start out with? How about this one?http://www.kynix.com/Detail/429534/PIC16F690.html
I'm quite happy doing either assembler or some other language, so what IDEs/languages would you suggest for Linux?
What would you recommend in terms of getting the code onto the chip, over a USB connection from a Linux laptop (PicKit 2? was one possibility) and what circuit/board configuration will I need to do this?

[helios]

Something easy to start out with is Arduino. There's an official IDE and C++-esque language available, it's programmed via USB, there's a considerable selection of inexpensive modules...