Besides OS, I had to make a choice between some major applications for the job. Please notice that all these applications are just my picks - principle design of this approach is that any application must be easily replaceable. And what is even better, as I'm constantly upgrading my setup and seeking for better solutions, sometimes I end up with two or more applications for the same job running at the same time! For example, these days I'm experimenting with XMMS 2 as a replacement for Amarok as audio player and both applications are running as completely separate "components", so basically right now I have two audio players. When XMMS 2's setup is finished (I still lack decent client - one that just displays current playlist and position in currently playing song, without any controls on it) I'll simply delete configuration for Amarok and end up just with my newly configured XMMS 2. That being said, I highly encourage you to try to replace any application from my list and This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it me necessary configuration update.
More about how I've accomplished this modularity read in configuration section. For now, just consider every application as fullscreen window on its own virtual desktop with own audio mixer (so it can be easily muted when placed in background) - almost as only that one single application is running on desktop. That way applications are mutually independent and unaware of each other, so their configuration is very simplicated. Besides of putting less requirement on applications, this approach also simplifies the procedure of adding another application (or "component") for the same task what is of utter importance when experimenting with new applications.
