Under most UNIX systems (and certainly under Red Hat Linux) you are given many different diverse tools to perfrom the same, or at least similar, functions. Dealing with all the different tools can be daunting, and some people even argue that this is the biggest downfall to many UNIX-like systems (you can read one such argument here: http://freshmeat.net/articles/view/774/).
Why choice is good
The biggest reason why I think that all this choice is good is because for most problems there is rarely a single, universal solution. Often, individual cases and particular circumstances will require subtle differences in functionality. By having a choice in software to solve a problem you can finely tune a solution to whatever problem arises.
Do not be afraid to experiment, and always remember that man pages are your friend (or they will be, once we cover them).
