use the right tool for the job
Interesting thread. On the original topic, I like to use a good tool for the job. It may or may not be minimalist.
I run gnome because I'm familiar with it from ubuntu. KDE is too cluttered IMO. I'm getting problems with compiz though. Thinking of going back to using wmctrl to emulate the tiling functions of winsplit revolution, rather than compiz grid. The only reason I use compiz is for grid, because it's easier to set up than using wmctrl. However, it is giving me grief. FreeBSD does tend to make one turn minimalist I think, simply because it reduces compile times, reduces opportunity for error in picking compile options, and chance for things to break.
Gnome includes the disk usage analyzer, which is very handy. Thunderbird, the file browser, archive manager. Firefox, because it has so many useful addons (noscript, and a few others I've used in the past).
I use vim, which may or may not be minimalist. It's pretty fast, but there is very little you can't do with it - lots of functions I will never use. But as is said with things like Office - everyone only uses 20% of the features, but everyone uses a different 20%. But vim is completely awesome. So quick, efficient, and powerful. Macros are awesome. Syntax highlighting is cool. Visual mode rocks. And after you wrap your head around it, it's intuitive.
For a calculator I use grpn, but control it with the keyboard. The keys are nice to have because they remind you of the functions available and the correct syntax to use. If it loads instantly, I don't consider it bloated.
I used to use Amarok for music until the new version made it worse (not minimalist). Now I use vlc player, which is more minimalist.
Openoffice is good, not minimalist at all. But I don't want to hamstring myself by using a less featureful office suite.
Editing pictures, GIMP. Drawing stuff, kivio. Neither of them minimalist.
Todo lists - tasque, or gtodo. Neither are minimalist. Sorely tempted to fork one of them and make it do everything I want it to do, as I haven't found any of them function exactly as I think they should.
For programming languages I like to use a good tool for the job - gluing together userland utilities, shell scripting is good. Manipulating text, Perl - and other stuff as well. (Remember that Perl is not just Perl, it has CPAN. So much code to reuse.) Simple calculations, spreadsheets. Complex non-relational calculations, I still use a spreadsheet, probably should learn R. Storing large and complex related information that I want to analyze, especially over and over again, PostgreSQL. When I meet a job that best suits Python, I will learn it. Until then I haven't found I needed to. I will learn Django soon, which will involve Python.