For a new project, make/bear are really not not the best any more. Something that outputs ninja would be much better. Faster, supports compile_commands.json out of the box, profiling support, etc.

One thing I'd add to the list: stdint.h. Don't use int, long, etc. Just use uint32_t, uint64_t and friends. Completely eliminates the ambiguity and you don't have to remember which is which.