Absolutely go with shared hosting unless you specifically need dedicated or VPS which is actually the next logical step, for reason that idcdc mentioned.

Other reasons to go with a VPS or dedicated may be the need for a large amount of file space or bandwidth, the necessity to load a non-standard program, the need for shell access.

If you'd like to get some experience with Linux and server administration and you have a computer laying around unused you can load Fedora core on it and gain that experience.

There's quite a bit that you can do with shared hosting and even more with your computer, so it'll be some time before you need a VPS or dedicated.