Fred Fish was a computer programmer notable for work on the GNU Debugger

GNU Debugger

The GNU Debugger, usually called just GDB and named gdb as an executable file, is the standard debugger for the GNU software system. It is a portable debugger that runs on many Unix-like systems and works for many programming languages, including Ada, C, C++, Objective-C, Free Pascal, Fortran, Java...

 and his series of Fish disks of freeware

Freeware

Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...

 for the Amiga

Amiga

The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...

. He was a pioneering spirit pervasive in the Amiga community. The Fish Disks (term coined by Perry Kivolowitz

Perry Kivolowitz

Perry Kivolowitz is an American computer scientist and business person. In 1985, he co-founded Advanced Systems Design Group which built hardware for the Commodore Amiga. This company was renamed Elastic Reality, Inc. and became well known as a digital imaging software provider...

 at a Jersey Amiga User Group meeting) became the first national rallying point, a sort of early postal system. Fish would get his disks off around the world in time for regional and local user group meetings who in turn duplicated them for local consumption. Typically, only the cost of materials changed hands. The Fish Disk series ran from 1986 to 1994. In it, one can chart the growing sophistication of Amiga software and see the emergence of many software trends.

The Fish Disks were distributed at computer stores and Commodore Amiga enthusiast clubs. Contributors submitted applications and source code and the best of these each month were assembled and released as a diskette. Since the Internet was not yet in popular usage outside military and university circles, this was a primary way for enthusiasts to share work and ideas. He also initiated the "GeekGadgets" project, a GNU standard environment for AmigaOS

AmigaOS

AmigaOS is the default native operating system of the Amiga personal computer. It was developed first by Commodore International, and initially introduced in 1985 with the Amiga 1000...

 and BeOS

BeOS

BeOS is an operating system for personal computers which began development by Be Inc. in 1991. It was first written to run on BeBox hardware. BeOS was optimized for digital media work and was written to take advantage of modern hardware facilities such as symmetric multiprocessing by utilizing...

.

Fish worked for Cygnus Solutions

Cygnus Solutions

Cygnus Solutions, originally Cygnus Support, was founded in 1989 by John Gilmore, Michael Tiemann and David Henkel-Wallace to provide commercial support for free software...

 in the 1990s before he left for Be Inc.

Be Inc.

Be Incorporated was an American computer company founded in 1990, best known for the Be Operating System and BeBox personal computer. Be was founded by former Apple Computer executive Jean-Louis Gassée with capital from Seymour Cray....

 in 1998.

In 1978, he self-published User Survival Guide for TI-58/59 Master Library [ftp://gateway.vttoth.com/pub/CALCDOCS/TI/TI%20Master%20Library%20Survival%20Guide.pdf], which was advertised in enthusiast newsletters covering the TI-59

TI-59

The TI-59 was an early programmable calculator, manufactured by Texas Instruments from 1977. It was the successor to the TI SR-52, quadrupling the number of "program steps" of storage, and adding "ROM Program Modules" and a magnetic card reader for external storage...

programmable calculator.

Personal life

Fred Fish was married to Michelle Fish. He previously lived in Phoenix with his wife, until he lived his dream of living aboard a boat. He and his wife lived the sea life with their two dogs. Living space was small, and they were cut off from most things.

When they decided their two year boat crusade was done, they lived Michelle's dream of living in a "cabin" like home. They moved to Idaho.

Fred Fish died at his home in Idaho on Friday April 20, 2007 of a heart attack.

Michelle. now widowed, moved back to Phoenix. Along with her she takes her business, Fish Eye Photography, her belongings, and her memories of Fred.

He had one biological son, Richard, from a previous relationship. He also had two adoptive fraternal twin sons, Mat and Adam, that were a result of a previous relationship of his wife Michelle.

External links

• Searchable database of Fish disk Amiga PD software
• [ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/amiga/fish/ Fish Disks]
• Living his LifeLong Dream
• Announcement of first Fish disks
• Geek Gadgets Project
• Fred Fish memorial archive - research in progress, explicitly welcomes Wiki usage.