tools of the trade

Drawing Tools
Pencil, Pens, Paper. Very high tech. Better include a scanner too.
Tablet, mouse, keyboard. Average fare.
Google image search, Gimp textures, web forums. Memes away.
Good old digital camera, makes for photographic spendor.
Graphics Manipulation
The Gimp, everything post-2001.
Paint Shop Pro, everything prior to 2001.
I have no idea what the authors other than myself (Huri) or sicPuppi use to create their strips, so I'm sure there are a few more programs that should be on this list.
Text Manipulation/Website Editing
VIM, and that's it.
Operating System
Arch Linux, Ubuntu, & Gentoo. The majority of post-2001 strips were made on Linux.
Windows (various versions), used by me prior to 2001, and most likely still used by the other contributors.
No Mac use yet, maybe Revan can fix that shortly.