One great way to collect this information (besides answers here or a page on the playground) might be a parts list on Octopart, which would allow people to buy the parts from a variety of distributors.
i starte to explore the octopart.com option.
here's a quick public partslist:
http://octopart.com/partlist/view?id=NjEzNzMy
it seems you can't search for partlists on octopart. could someone of you try if it's possible to add items to that list and save it under a new name?
plus: i didn't add resistors just because i couldn't find any 1/4W through holes in that billion of SMT parts. how do you search for them?
as for manufacturers/models: i chose those parts first in the search result that had a pdf datasheet attached.
maybe we should discuss individual parts and do seperate lists for special ICs/caps/Leds etc. That way i would be easier to explain them in the partlist description (individual parts can't be commented i think).
//kuk
PS: it seems the octopart list can also be embedded in webpages using one line javascript. unfortunately YaBB doesn't like this 
EDIT: individual parts can be commented. it also seems that anyone can create a personal copy of list and edit/publish it under his/her own name!
so if you know of components that are essential, somehow "general purpose" please put it in this thread with a short description and i put them on the list.
i