I have spent the last few days playing around with Drupal for the first time, and I really like it. Especially after building dynamic sites from scratch.
Being that there are thousands of modules, I would like to know what modules SO users cant live (or develop) without.
What modules do you always (or always with specific requirements) use?
I install these regardless of the site, regardless of the requirements, and before I do anything else:
What Dave DeLong said.
Also, some helpful mods:
http://drupalmodules.com/ is the best site for finding Drupal modules.
As an extension to what Dave DeLong has suggested, I also highly recommend the following:
Other tools are mostly specific to the functions you want to have on your site.
I know that a million people are going to jump on this thread, but anyhoo...
Your best bet is to take a look at the usage statistics for each module. You talk with ten different people and you'll get ten different lists of "must have" modules, but these statistics demonstrate what people actually use. I would just start at the top and work your way down the list - even if you hit something that you don't need, it will be worth the time you take to understand what it does.
Oh, and Sam is very right: the best place to SEARCH for modules is drupalmodules.com.
There are some great posts out there with lists of can't-live-without modules: http://delicious.com/search?p=top+drupal+modules&chk=&fr=del_icio_us&lc=1&sd=6M&ed=&atags=drupal&context=all||
Personally though:
Other modules I use a lot but not necessarily every single site, depending on the needs:
Some I love but haven't seen mentioned yet: