On: Ask HN: New Ubuntu Desktop--what would you install...

[lbrandy]

Well, here's exactly what I install on a fresh Ubuntu desktop machine (it's my script, copy/pasted).

sudo apt-get install subversion git imagemagick oprofile ssh manpages-dev g++ gcc libtool autoconf automake emacs vim compizconfig-settings-manager valgrind inkscape

Might be something interesting in there for you with a little googling.