User Friendly the Comic Strip

★ wanayoo — archive 1999 http://www.userfriendly.org/faq/index.html


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Welcome to the Userfriendly FAQ.... home of the answers to your questions.

Please check for the answers to your questions here before e-mailing me with your questions. This cuts down on the e-mail volume and allows me more time to work on the strip. However, if you cannot find the answer to your question in the following FAQ, feel free to send an e-mail to illiad@userfriendly.org. It will be answered within a week or two (sorry about the delay, but sometimes there are just too many :-{ ). This FAQ will be updated if there are a large amount of questions about something.

And now what you have been waiting for...

1. Questions about Copyright, Use and Linking to the Strip
	1.1	Can I put up a link to USER FRIENDLY on my own page?
	1.2	Is there an image that I can link to that contains the current USER FRIENDLY comic?
	1.3	Can I put my favourite USER FRIENDLY cartoons up on my Web page?
	1.4	Is it okay if I print out my favourite USER FRIENDLY cartoons and stick them up somewhere?
	1.5	Can I print out a strip and make a t-shirt from it?
2. Questions about the Strip
	2.1	Does USER FRIENDLY run in any print publications?
	2.2	What's this "User Friendly Productivity Virus?"
	2.3	How do I get a Dust Puppy doll?
	2.4	Is there a USER FRIENDLY book in print?
	2.5	Why do you pick on Macs/Palm Pilots/Salespeople/Techs et. al.?
	2.6	Why do you pick on Microsoft?
3. Questions for THE Illiad
	3.1	Are you looking for stories?
	3.2	Do you use everything you're sent?
	3.3	Can I write to you even if I don't have a story?
	3.4	Are you making a living from this?
	3.5	So who is Illiad?

1. Questions about Copyright, Use and Linking to the Strip

1.1 Can I put up a link to USER FRIENDLY on my own page?
You're more than welcome to link to http://www.userfriendly.org/. In fact, I've gone so far as to include a handful of graphics for those who care to avail themselves of them:

1.2 Can I link to a static USER FRIENDLY file that you update daily?
No there isn't. This unfortunately is not going to change anytime soon as the sponsors of the site would be a bit unhappy if their ads were not being seen.

However there is a static page that is updated daily at http://www.userfriendly.org/static/ if you wish to link to it.

1.3 Can I put my favourite USER FRIENDLY cartoons up on my Web page?
If it is within reason, then that is just fine.... reason being defined as 3 or 4 cartoons. If you start becoming a User Friendly mirror site I could take exception. Also, please don't post any cartoons that are less than 60 days old on your own Web page.

Also, please keep all the copyright notices intact on the images. This is all I ask. Have fun!

1.4 Is it okay if I print out my favourite USER FRIENDLY cartoons and stick them up somewhere?
Go for it! Spread the word! Just please keep all copyright notices intact and don't go TOO crazy :)

1.5 Can I print out a strip and make a t-shirt/mug/mousepad from it?
I'm going to do an about face on my original policy on this and say yes, but there are conditions:

You can only do this for personal use. In other words, you can't sell them, even at a loss.

You must keep all copyright notices intact.

What I'm doing here is essentially giving you a very limited license to use an image or group of images from User Friendly. The spirit of that license is to let you do what you want for personal enjoyment, but you need to acknowledge that the image(s) are my intellectual property.

2. Questions about the Strip

2.1 Does USER FRIENDLY run in any print publications?

User Friendly currently appears monthly in the Linux Journal and Canadian Computer Wholesaler. The strip isn't syndicated yet, but we're approaching both the syndicates and other newspapers.

If you'd like to see the comic strip in your local paper, a call or letter to the Features Editor will help matters. They'll eventually get the idea and call the syndicates, or you can point them directly at me.

2.2 What's this "User Friendly Productivity Virus?"
If you have to ask, you haven't experienced it. It is an addiction, pure and simple. If you become a victim of the Virus, your productivity will be severely limited for a number of days as a result.

The Virus recognisable by it's symptoms:

Reading the Strip from day 1
Brewing stong quad-damage coffee
Quoting Dust Puppy at the office

If you notice any of these signs, you are coming down with the virus. Make sure that you put all projects on hold and do not operate heavy machinery while under it's influence.

So, if you're the proud victim of the UF Productivity Virus, and you want the world to know about it, feel free to grab one of the following buttons and link it back here. You'll be helping to spread the virus.

Note: There is no known cure for the virus. When it hits, you have to let it run its course.

2.3 How do I get a Dust Puppy doll?
The Dust Puppy doll does not exist...at least...not yet. Maybe in the future there might be one, but you will have to wait and see. I'll announce it on the static when and if one comes out. ( I pity the boxes of the web site that would sell them. )

2.4 Is there a USER FRIENDLY book in print?
YES! O'Reilly just published the first User Friendly book. Amazon.com recently allowed pre-orders for the book and it became one of their top-10 bestsellers. Talk about supportive :) You can now order it from several online bookstores and it will be on shelves sometime in late October, 1999.

2.5 Why do you pick on Macs, Palm Pilots, Techs et. al.?
Because it's an opportunity for humour. I really don't have anything against Macs or marketing staff or consultants or anything like that. My motto for the strip is 'Nothing is Sacred', and I mean it. Even the Holy OS (Linux) is fair game, and so are celebrities like Linus Torvalds and Richard Stallman (Not to mention cartoonists). If I see a joke that will fit User Friendly's mandate, I'll happily skewer the current target with my barbs.

There's really no way of saying this politely, so I'll just say it the way it is. If you're offended by a joke about Macs, or marketers, or Linux, or something you hold sacred, get a grip. This is a cartoon strip, not some political soapbox. People read cartoon strips to laugh.

2.6 Why do you pick on Microsoft?
This question IS different from question 2.5. See, I pick on Microsoft because I really do think that their Windows products are three-coiled turds. Despite judicious backups, keeping my system clean and tuned, I've lost work because Windows has suddenly decided to go into a fetal position on me.... as have most Windows users.

Lashing out at Microsoft with humour helps me feel like I'm tipping the scales back a little for the crap that it stands for. It's also enormously satisfying to see hundreds of thousands of readers laugh with me. :)

3. Questions for THE Illiad

3.1 Are you looking for stories?
Absolutely! Tech-support horror stories, Microsoft stories, bad experiences with software from the end-user's perspective, stories about the Web...you get the idea. If you have a story or two, send them in! I really much prefer real-life stories, since the best humour has a grain of truth in it. Everything is open to abuse. Nothing is sacred, including cartoonists. :)

3.2 Do you use everything you're sent?
Unfortunately no, and those that I do use normally end up being modified for the cartoon. I try hard to pick the best submissions for the comic...and sometimes I actually succeed.

Having said that, if something "only" mildly amusing crosses your desk or your life, don't just nix it and think "it's not funny enough, Illiad will never use it." People have sent in "so-so" stories that evolved into a really funny strip, simply by virtue of the cartoon medium. So don't be shy. The worse that could happen is that I won't use the story.

3.3 Can I write to you even if I don't have a story?
Of course! I just ask that you check this FAQ for your question first, and if you cannot find it, then e-mail me. I will respond to every e-mail I recieve, although it may take me some time depending on how many I recieve (normal time for a response is 1-2 weeks maximum).

3.4 Are you making a living from this?
Not really. User Friendly is something that I would love to make a living out of, but that is tough to do and so right now I settle for the knowledge that it is getting to be so widespread.

3.5 So who is Illiad?
Illiad is me...I am Illiad...we are the same. I live in British Columbia, Canada, and I'm the Creative Director for a hi-tech company. That is, of course, in addition to being the cartoonist for User Friendly.

I've worked for game design companies, an internet service provider, and other nifty places. I've also had paying jobs as a writer, editor, art director, project manager, game designer and graphic artist. My principle background is in the creative industry, although I have always worked with computers.

As for my personal interests, I'm fascinated by science, science fiction, gaming, and technology. I also suspect I'm mildly misanthropic, because my tolerance for city living and crowds tends to get thin. ...Although a bunch of good friends and a pint o' Guinness will alleviate that condition. :)