Source code control system: ditch CVS for subversion.
Project management: Trac tracks everything.
Scripting language: Ruby is Japanese pragmatism (and has a poignant guide). Python, you say? Python is too academic and snob:
$ python
Python 2.4.1 (\#1, Jun 4 2005, 00:54:33)
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> exit
'Use Ctrl-D (i.e. EOF) to exit.'
>>> quit
'Use Ctrl-D (i.e. EOF) to exit.'Java IDE: JBuilder is great software and has a free version (IMHO better than Eclipse). Java is not a pain anymore since it gained generics and got opensourced.
Mark-up language: HTML is so 2001, why don’t you take at look at Markdown? Look at the source of this page.
C++ libraries: * QT for GUIs. * GSL for math. * Magick++ for manipulating images. * Cairo for creating PDFs. * Boost for just about everything else.
