What Is the Oldest Code Written Still Running?

Consul writes "What is the oldest piece of code that is still in use today, that has not actually been retyped or reimplemented in some way? By 'piece of code,' I'm of course referring to a complete algorithm, and not just a single line." The question would have a different answer if emulation, in multiple layers, is allowed.

Comments

Really?

[Bragador]

And who are you to say that humans are not carbon-based computers?

Re:A rare topic

[Darkness404]

1) the manufacturer has stopped supporting it

That may be true for proprietary products, but for free software most of the older releases will still be supported. Think of the Linux kernel, while almost everyone uses the 2.6 branch, they still support the 2.4 branch. Also, for example Firefox in the 2.X branch started using up more memory so some minimal Linux distros still stuck with the 1.5.X branch. There sometimes is a need for older software even if it is proprietary too, for example Windows 95. Most computers made for Windows 95 wouldn't run as well even with an ultra-minimalistic Linux distros at the same level as Windows 95 (it might work as a firewall or similar but as for running say Firefox, there is no way it would happen), and if you have say 50 desktops (still running well) with Windows 95, you might still want to keep them as 50 computers running XP could cost 15,000 (figuring at $300 per computer). So yes, there is a need many times to keep old software/hardware around. For example, the Windows 95 solution, even if say 50% of the computers break, it might be cheaper to buy some $25 Windows 95 era computers on Ebay rather then upgrade to say an XP-level computer.