I'm an advocate of "free" (free meaning free from patents or copyrights, hence the free as in freedom..) or open source software such as GNU/Linux, Open Office, MySQL, Mozilla and Thunderbird.
Free software is a less restrictive, more open in terms of use, software than that which is copyrighted and owned by companies. People can and do modify the software to suit their and others needs provided they pass on the same rights as they received to modify, use or distribute the software. Programmers all around the world freely contribute to the software be it in development, testing or bug fixing with the result that the software is constantly being improved and modified for the benefit of all users.
In my web design I aim to use open source software. I currently use Debian Etch operating system on my pc, design the pages with Open Office html page editor and use The Gimp for image manipulation.
I endevour to constructed websites using html markup that complies with the W3C standards for html and css. In the words of their website, "The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium where member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards." As a believer in cross browser interoperability I am proud that my sites comply with their standards. More information about the W3C can be had from their website here: W3C