# Fred Fish > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fred_Fish > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fred_Fish.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Fish > Source revision: 1340284869 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) U.S. computer programmer (1952–2007) For other people named Frederick Fish, see [Frederick Fish (disambiguation)](/source/Frederick_Fish_(disambiguation)). Fred N. Fish Fred Fish, Jason Compton, and Dave Haynie in 1995 Born (1952-11-04)November 4, 1952 Died April 20, 2007(2007-04-20) (aged 54) Known for Fish Disks Spouse Michelle Fish (née Norman) Image taken at the first Amiga show in [Cologne](/source/Cologne) (1989, Köln). Front row from left to right, [Matt Dillon](/source/Matthew_Dillon) and Fred Fish. Back row from the left: Oliver Wagner and Mick Hohmann. **Fred Fish** (November 4, 1952 – April 20, 2007) was a [computer programmer](/source/Computer_programmer) notable for work on the [GNU Debugger](/source/GNU_Debugger) and his series of [freeware](/source/Freeware) disks for the [Amiga](/source/Amiga). Fish worked for [Cygnus Solutions](/source/Cygnus_Solutions) in the 1990s before leaving for [Be Inc.](/source/Be_Inc.) in 1998.[1] In 1978, he self-published *User Survival Guide for TI-58/59 Master Library*.[2] It was advertised in enthusiast newsletters covering the [TI-59](/source/TI-59) programmable calculator. Fish also initiated the "GeekGadgets" project, a GNU standard environment for [AmigaOS](/source/AmigaOS) and [BeOS](/source/BeOS). ## Personal life Fred Fish was married to Michelle Fish (née Norman) at the time of his death. He died of a [heart attack](/source/Heart_attack)[3] at his home in Idaho on Friday, April 20, 2007. ## The Amiga Library Disks The *Amiga Library Disks* – colloquially referred to as *Fish Disks* (a term coined by [Perry Kivolowitz](/source/Perry_Kivolowitz) at a Jersey Amiga User Group meeting) – had a reach that included most all Amiga users in the world.[4] Fish would distribute his disks around the world in time for regional and local user group meetings, which in turn duplicated them for local distribution. 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.[1] The custom fish-shaped icon used for the Amiga Library Disks from number 75 onwards. The Fish Disks were distributed at computer stores and Amiga enthusiast clubs. Contributors submitted applications and [source code](/source/Source_code) and the best of these each month were assembled and released as a [diskette](/source/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.[5] ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Spindazzle_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Spindazzle_1-1) ["Fred Fish"](https://web.archive.org/web/20081224200258/http://spindazzle.org/greenblog/index.php?%2Farchives%2F60-Fred-Fish.html). *spindazzle.org*. Archived from the original on December 24, 2008. Retrieved 2017-09-25.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_bot:_original_URL_status_unknown)) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Fish, Fred (1978). ["User Survival Guide for TI-58/59 Master Library"](https://airy.rskey.org/CALCDOCS//TI/TI%20Master%20Library%20Survival%20Guide.pdf) (PDF). *rskey.org*. Retrieved 2018-06-19. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-richard_3-0)** ["Richard Fish - Fred Fish will be missed"](https://sourceware.org/legacy-ml/gdb/2007-04/msg00154.html). *sourceware.org*. Retrieved 2023-04-12. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Moss, Richard (2023-01-10). [*Shareware Heroes: The renegades who redefined gaming at the dawn of the internet*](https://books.google.com/books?id=YrlbEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT40). [Unbound](/source/Unbound_(publisher)). p. 40. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781800181106](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781800181106). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Fish_Disks_5-0)** ["Fish disks 1 - 1120"](http://www.amiga-stuff.com/pd/fish.html). *www.amiga-stuff.com*. Retrieved 2023-04-12. ## External links - [Amiga portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Amiga) - [Biography portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Biography) - [Fish Disks](http://ftp.funet.fi/pub/amiga/fish/) - [Interview with Fred Fish](http://obligement.free.fr/articles/itwfish.php) - [Living his LifeLong Dream](https://web.archive.org/web/20131024004931/http://diveadx.back2roots.org/) at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) (archived October 24, 2013) - [Announcement of first Fish disks](https://groups.google.com/group/net.micro.amiga/msg/8687b1f863fcc352?dmode=source) - [Geek Gadgets Project](https://web.archive.org/web/20131016084207/http://geekgadgets.back2roots.org/) at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) (archived October 16, 2013) - [Fred Fish memorial archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20131208030949/http://fish.back2roots.org/) at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) (archived December 8, 2013) - research in progress, explicitly welcomes Wiki usage. v t e Amiga people Original creators Dave Haynie RJ Mical Jay Miner Dave Needle Dave Morse Carl Sassenrath Developers Matthew Dillon Fred Fish Tim Follin Jon Hare Chris Huelsbeck Richard Joseph François Lionet David Whittaker Bill Williams Tim Wright Journalists Matt Bielby Kieron Gillen --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fred Fish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Fish) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Fish?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.