| Fred Fish | |
|---|---|
Fred Fish, Jason Compton, and Dave Haynie in 1995 |
|
| Born | November 4, 1952 |
| Died | April 20, 2007 (aged 54) |
| Known for | Fish Disks |
Fred Fish (November 4, 1952 – April 20, 2007) was a computer programmer notable for work on the GNU Debugger and his series of Fish disks of freeware for the Amiga. He was a pioneering spirit pervasive in the Amiga community. The Fish Disks (term coined by Perry Kivolowitz 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.[1] He also initiated the "GeekGadgets" project, a GNU standard environment for AmigaOS and BeOS.
Fish worked for Cygnus Solutions in the 1990s before he left for Be Inc. in 1998.[2]
In 1978, he self-published User Survival Guide for TI-58/59 Master Library [1], which was advertised in enthusiast newsletters covering the TI-59 programmable calculator.
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.[3]