- University of Utah researchers found a rare 1973 UNIX tape in storage.
- The tape may reveal insights into early UNIX development influencing Linux and macOS.
- The team plans to read it at the Computer History Museum in California.
SALT LAKE CITY — A research team at the University of Utah uncovered a rare piece of computing history.
Aleks Maricq, research associate in the Flux Research Group, discovered a version of the original UNIX operating system from 1973 that was thought to be lost. He found it while cleaning a storage room.
“I think UNIX before was only sent out to 20 people total, outside of Bell Laboratories, so it was rather scarce,” Maricq said. “The fact we found a version at all is pretty astonishing.”…