Rob Ricci
While cleaning a storage room, our staff found this tape containing #UNIX v4 from Bell Labs, circa 1973
Apparently no other complete copies are known to exist: https://gunkies.org/wiki/UNIX_Fourth_Edition
We have arranged to deliver it to the Computer History Museum
:blobancap: :blobcattrans: :blobancap: :blobcattrans: :blobancap: :blobcattrans:
Rob Ricci
@vaporeon_ Yeah I think that's the plan. No idea if it's still actually readable, though....
Vaporeon :vaporeon:
@ricci Do you (and the Computer History Museum) plan to read the tape and publish the source code for UNIXv4 anywhere?
Steve's Place
@ricci Oh. I wonder what became of the tape of backup code from our flight that I once wound up with. 🤔
:blobancap: :blobcattrans: :blobancap: :blobcattrans: :blobancap: :blobcattrans:
Diogenese_Shiplap
Evan Prodromou
@ricci cooooool
Xenotar
@ricci I hope they give a copy to the TUHS archives
Rob Ricci
@jbowen @heretical_i @robpike @bitsavers
Fun fact, some of the students in our department saw Rob's post there, posted about it on a Slack I'm on - without realizing that it was us that found it until I replied to them. Two minutes later there were in my office to have a look at it.
News spreads fast in 2025.
Jason Bowen 🇺🇦
@ricci @heretical_i
Hehe, I was going to ask if you'd let the TUHS folks know, but was thrilled to see @robpike was on it.
TUHS mailing list thread about it: https://www.tuhs.org/pipermail/tuhs/2025-November/032758.html
Can't wait, @bitsavers!
Rob Ricci
@heretical_i The person who is going to attempt to read it is hopeful: https://oldbytes.space/@bitsavers/115505135441862982
Heretical_i
@ricci If it's tails weren't turned regularly it probably isn't operational. Printthrough u know?
Rob Ricci
We have some more information on this! One of @regehr's grad students[*] did some excellent sleuthing and figured out that this was received by Martin Newell : https://archive.org/details/unix_news_july-30-1975/page/n9/mode/2up
If that name sounds familiar to you, it's probably because his teapot is ubiquitous in computer graphics: https://graphics.cs.utah.edu/teapot/
Rob Ricci
The attempt to read the UNIX V4 tape is underway!
Rob Ricci
There will be more video later (there's a TV news crew there) but here's a bit that Jon Duerig has sent from on-site
Rob Ricci
Apparently the entire UNIX v4 tape was read successfully, what's going to need to happen next is to decode the signal from it, decipher the file formats, etc., I'll post updates as I get them
Rob Ricci
I'm told "there is data" but I honestly don't know what that means yet
Rob Ricci
Here's the document release you were waiting for today!
The UNIX V4 tape!
Rob Ricci
We have the binary image of the tape, link going up soon
pistolero
Rob Ricci
Thread about the .tap format for those who want to dig in more:
iced depresso
Rob Ricci
Here's a copy of the filesystem that has been extracted as a .tar file: http://squoze.net/UNIX/v4/
Perrin42
Boy, time travelers would have an opportunity for the *best* Rickroll of all time.
zorun
@ricci Another interesting bit of code in the time conversion routine (usr/source/s3/ctime.c), it has a "Nixon flag":
> "nixonflg,", if set to 1, will cause daylight savings time all year around independently of "daylight".
@quota_atypique worked out that this must be in anticipation of this law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Daylight_Saving_Time_Energy_Conservation_Act
Another comment in that same file:
> The routine does not work in Saudi Arabia which runs on Solar time.
zorun
@ricci Another quote about Frank Sinatra (?!) that I frankly can't make out without context:
> Lankler has said that the deception was designed to make the affair, which featured such standouts as Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra, appear more successful than it was.
zorun
@ricci Interestingly, running "strings" through the raw file reveals what looks like ... paper reviews for CACM! Not sure if these are emails or some kind of database, there are placeholders in the text. I did not find them again in the tar file that somebody extracted from the raw file, so it may an additional backup or something?
One quote:
> As for the CACM, your paper is too theoretical and too remote from potential applications to warrant publication there.
Rob Ricci
Y'all are huge nerds. I love every one of you.
mcc
@ricci Right right it's just… there's something that feels more visceral about writing SNOBOL from a C implementation on a recovered lost unix tape. Like eating cheese out of the mummy tomb. I know that there's cheese around the corner but THIS cheese has a forbidden thrill
mcc
@ricci I… I kinda want to write some SNOBOL
Rob Ricci
@mcc it's free and no one can stop you
Rob Ricci
So far some of our folks think they have found Hunt The Wumpus and the C code for a Snobol interpreter
Ben Zanin
@ricci psst @cks , ya gotta see this thread if you haven't already.
Chris Siebenmann
@gnomon I've been following the news with quite a bit of interest, and I'm happy for the outcome so far (people are even booting V4 on simulated hardware now). If I get energetic I might look over old techblog entries to see if there's anything this new V4 treasury can clarify or expand.
Ben Zanin
@cks ah, sorry, I should have guessed you'd be all over it already!
Chris Siebenmann
@gnomon It made me wonder what we (at the university) might have sitting around in a back room, but the answer is probably "nothing by now". There was some effort to copy old 9-track tapes as the university's 9-track tape drives dwindled, but that was decades ago and I doubt anyone kept tapes back with important stuff on them.
(Although I heard the other day that there are still some sitting around some places.)
Michael Katzmann🐈
@ricci It's been booted!
Rob Ricci
Oh and by the way, there are more tapes. Did I mention there are more tapes? No, I don't think I did. We sent a box of other tapes the the Computer History Museum along with the UNIX V4 tape. These are considerably newer, are not necessarily "lost", and may not be redistributable due to the licensing issues.
But, for what it's worth, here are what the labels say they are:
* HP-UX 8.07 Sources for HP9000/S700, tar format (1 tape per: NFS, SAM, Commands, ARPA, Kernel, Network Services), DDS 60m
* HP-UX 9.01 Sources for HP9000/S700, tar format (1 tape total containing: ARPA, Commands, Help, Kernel, NFS, Network Services, SAM), DDS 60m
* ODE build environment, rc_files tools src, HP 92283A DDS 60m
* OSF1 Acorn 1.0 from Utah 6/25/92 INCOMPLETE, dd image of ‘c’ partition of Quantum 425S (64k blocks), HP92283A DDS 60m
* OSF Research Institute AD2.0 for X86 (tar format), Sony DDS 60m
* OSF Research Institute MK6.1 Release, September 27 1994, DDS 60m Media Recognition System
* HP-UX 8.01 single tar file of root and /usr, 8/22/91, HP 92283A DDS 60m
* Transarc Distribution Tapes, Sony DDS DG-60m (Restricted Rights Legend):
* Binary Distribution rs_aix31 x2 (AFS Version 3.1a and 3.1b)
* Binary Distribution HP300_UX70 x2 (AFS Version 3.1a and 3.1b)
* Source Distribution hp700_ux80 x2 (AFS Version 3.1b)
* Binary Distribution sun4c_411 x2 (AFS Version 3.1a and 3.1b)
* Source Distribution AFS 3.1a (AFS Version 3.1a)
* Source Distribution (Unknown) (AFS Version 3.1b)
* Acorn S115 sources tar b20 1/31/92, HP 92283A DDS 60m
* HP-UX 8.05 recovery system 2/18/92, HP 92283A DDS 60m
* HP-UX 8.05 backup of 720, HP 92283A DDS 60m
* Mt Xinu More/bsd 4.3 6250bpi Source Distribution 6/15/88 (4 tar files: usr/src, usr/src/sys, usr/ingres/source, usr/src/new)
I'll let you know if they find anything interesting on them!
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