A long-dead Linux kernel driver for QIC-80 tape drives just got dragged into the present—with help from **Claude Code** and a lot of tinkering. It now builds cleanly and runs as a **standalone module** on **Linux 6.8**, playing nice with modern setups like **Xubuntu 24.04**. **The bigger picture:** Turns out, LLMs can hack it with old-school kernel code. They're already helping resuscitate crusty drivers for today’s APIs—which could change how devs tackle stubborn legacy hardware.
