Amazing lost media news!
52-year-old 9-track tape found with Unix V4, the operating system that everything else came from. Only 20 copies ever existed. University of Utah found theirs in a storage closet, knew what they'd found, and got the help of the California Computer Museum to reconstruct the delicate data.
I really enjoyed reading this article, which treats its readers as capable of understanding, and explains some of the technical background and challenges. Kudos to the author Courtney Tanner for conveying the excitement of this find to the audience.
Original:
https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2026/01/07/university-utah-finds-tape-with/
Archive:
(I realize the irony of having to link the archive article. SL Trib promises they'll remove their paywalls soon!)
#RetroComputing #LostMedia #ComputerHistory #technology #unix