hacking is someone who reads/writes/edits code (as in programming code)

cracking is when you try to get access to a computer you shouldn't be

honestlly i aint ever herd the term 'red hat' before (xcept for the linux distro o course)

linux is widely used for a cracking platform as it has better tools for security (not just keeping it but breaching it)
and also most web services are based on a linux platform (well the decent ones anyway)