New packages can be installed one at a time or as part of a collection using the task selection tool tasksel or gnome-tasksel. A nice graphical alternative in synaptic. Below is a list of packages I commonly install. Place the following list into a file called install:
acroread alien apt-listchanges apt-utils aspell aspell-doc aspell-en auctex autoconf automake autotools-dev balsa bsdmainutils bsdutils bzip2 catdoc cdrdao cdrecord cdtool communicator cpio cpp cvs dc debconf debconf-doc debconf-utils debhelper debianutils deborphan defoma devhelp-books dialog docbook docbook-dsssl docbook-utils docbook-xml dpkg-dev ebook-dev-ggad eeyes eject elvis-tiny emacs21 emacs21-el enscript eog evolution fakeroot fdutils file finger fortune-mod fortunes-min fping ftp g++ g77 galeon galeon-common gaspell gawk gcc gconf-editor gcvs gdm gedit gettext-el gimp gkdebconf gkrellm gkrellm-gnome gkrellm-volume gkrellmms glabels glade-gnome gnome-applets gnome-audio gnome-commander gnome-common gnome-control-center gnome-core gnome-games gnome-gv gnome-help gnome-help-data gnome-media gnome-office gnome-panel gnome-pim gnome-session gnome-spell gnome-terminal gnome-users-guide gnome-utils gnumeric-doc gnumeric-gda gnumeric-python gnuplot gpaint grep grip groff groff-x11 gs gs-pdfencrypt gsfonts gsfonts-x11 gthumb gtimer gtk-engines-begtk gtk-engines-cleanice gtk-engines-cleanice2 gtk-engines-eazel gtk-engines-flat gtk-engines-gtkstep gtk-engines-icegradient gtk-engines-mac2 gtk-engines-metal gtk-engines-notif gtk-engines-pixmap gtk-engines-raleigh gtk-engines-redmond95 gtk-engines-thinice gtk-engines-xenophilia gtkgraph gtkhtml gzip hdparm hostname html2text hwdata hwtools ifupdown indent info jade jadetex java-common jdk1.1 jdk1.1-dev less lprng lynx lyx make man-db manpages mime-support mkisofs modconf modutils most mozilla mpage mpg321 mtools mutt muttprint nano nautilus-suggested net-tools netbase netpbm nfs-kernel-server ntp-simple nvi openoffice.org patch pciutils perl perl-doc perl-tk playmidi plotutils powermgmt-base powershell prosper psfontmgr psgml psmisc pstoedit psutils python python-apt python-dev python-doc python-elisp python-gdk-imlib python-glade python-gnome python-gtk python-mysqldb python-numeric python-optik python-soappy python-xml qemacs r-base r-base-dev r-doc-html r-doc-info r-doc-pdf r-gnome r-mathlib r-nonlinear r-recommended rdist rep-gtk-gnome rep-xmms reportbug rpm rstatd rstat-client rsync samba sawfish scrollkeeper setserial sgml-data sgmlspl sharutils sndconfig sox sp splay ssh ssh-askpass ssh-askpass-gnome sudo synaptic sysutils tasksel tcl8.3 tetex-bin tetex-doc tetex-extra tetex-src texinfo time tk8.3 transfig ucf unzip vim wajig wget whiptail whois x-window-system x-window-system-core xclip xdaliclock xearth xfig xfishtank xfonts-cyrillic xfonts-pex xfree86-common xfsprogs xfstt xgalaga xine-ui xletters xloadimage xmeter xmh xmms xmms-alarm xmms-bumpscope xmms-cdread xmms-crossfade xmms-dev xmms-flac xmms-fmradio xmms-goodnight xmms-goom xmms-infinity xmms-jess xmms-lirc xmms-liveice xmms-modplug xmms-msa xmms-osd-plugin xmms-qbble xmms-shell xmms-sid xmms-singit xmms-status-plugin xmms-synaesthesia xmms-volnorm xmms-wmdiscotux xmmsarts xmountains xpdf xpdf-common xpdf-reader xpdf-utils xplanet xplanet-images xscreensaver-gl xscreensaver-gnome xsltproc xsnow
Install them with:
$ wajig install -f install