BT: Where did the nickname Illiad came from ?

Illiad: It's from one of my favourite epic greek poems, 'The Iliad' by Homer. I added an extra 'l' to avoid duplication. Turns out that a lot of people now use the nickname spelled the way I do.

BT: How did User Friendly start ?

Illiad: I was just doodling one day at the office, an ISP I used to work for. I passed the cartoon around and my co-workers liked them, so I drew some more and eventually put them up on the Web.

BT: Where do you get your ideas from ?

Illiad: From personal experience, and from talking to people in the community. The lion's share of inspiration comes from the community itself.

BT: I saw you at LinuxWorld Expo signing autographs. How does that feel ?

Illiad: A little strange, but at the same time gratifying that people really like my work enough to want my autograph. It also helps that I get to meet and actually talk to each person for at least a couple minutes. It gives them an idea of the kind of person I am, and I get to meet a lot of really interesting folks.

BT: Did you ever forsee your fame getting to such a point ?

Illiad: I had no idea really. Every day I'm surprised even more by the fame and attention I've been getting.

BT: How did the book deal happen ?

Illiad: Simon and Schuster originally approached me a couple years back. My literary agent negotiated a deal with them, then started negotiations with O'Reilly. The O'Reilly offer was the better of the two, so we took that one.

BT: How many books have been sold so far ?

Illiad: I'm not certain. I do know that they've gone to a fourth printing at least. The second book is due out sometime in April I think.

BT: How did you get your start ? Computers ? Writing ?

Illiad: I've always been a writer, and the day I got my hands on punch cards for the school computer when I was 12 I knew that my life had been mapped out for me.

BT: Did you write any other comic strip before UF ?

Illiad: I've done several, mostly based on my career at the time. I did one about ten years ago that I sent to the big syndicates called "Dust Puppies." I was summarily rejected by all of them.

BT: UF has been compared to Dilbert, In your perception, is that a fair comparison ?

Illiad: It's a pretty shallow comparison at best. Yes, UF addresses a specific audience, but so does almost every other cartoon. Dilbert is written for the corporate-bound, whereas UF's focus is on geek culture and technology.

BT: You have been praised by many of industry notables. There's nothing more gratifying than being recognized by your peers in the community. Talk some about that.

Illiad: It feels great and a little scary at the same time. People like Eric Raymond, Alan Cox and Jerry Pournelle (for example) awe me with their knowledge and understanding, so I find it a little difficult to see myself as one of their peers.

BT: So what's in store for future of UF ?

Illiad: Many, many things. I can't get into the details just yet, because I have a real neurosis about selling vapor. When a project is in beta, whatever it is, I can discuss it.

BT: Besides writing what are you hobbies ?

Illiad: Reading, lots of that. Gaming, game design, some visual art, long-distance running and I'm starting to learn how to rollerblade. I'd like to get good at horseback riding.

BT: Have a favorite beer ? :)

Illiad: It used to be Guinness. I don't drink alcohol anymore. :-)

BT: How old are you if you don't mind me asking ?

Illiad: Old enough to know better, young enough not to care. ;-)

BT: There has been a lot of talk about fragmentation lately. What are you feelings about that ?

Illiad: Fragmentation in and of itself isn't a bad thing, and can actually be a good thing. Balkanization, however, is destructive and shouldn't be encouraged.

BT: What do you use ? KDE or GNOME

Illiad: KDE

BT: vi or emacs

Illiad: vi

BT: Favorite Distribution ?

Illiad: It used to be Mandrake. Now it's SuSE.

BT: You are on the list of one of top 50 most influential in the Linux Open Source movement. Must be a great feeling being on the same list as Alan cox, Eric Raymond and others.

Illiad: Again it's that peer thing. I was really surprised to see myself on that list, and in the august company of people like you've named.

BT: Has companies like Andover.net made an offer to acquire userfriendly.org as part of their network ?

Illiad: We've had some serious offers. However, I don't see UF being under someone else's umbrella in the forseeable future. It would have to be a very compelling and unusual deal indeed for me to acquiesce to something like an acquisition.

Illiad
illiad@userfriendly.org
User Friendly the Comic Strip
https://www.userfriendly.org/

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