Hi all,

There is a tar.gz whose contents I would like to access. The file itself is quite old, last being updated ~20 years ago if I had to guess (I am not sure if this is relevant). The file contains legacy scientific code that I would like for archival purposes and can be found via the "code site" link here. However:

• When I download the file and run tar -xvzf radpack.tar.gz I get an error: tar: Error opening archive: Unrecognized archive format.
• Likewise, if I try to gunzip it I get gunzip: radpack.tar.gz: not in gzip format.
• Running file radpack.tar.gz only yields radpack.tar.gx: data, indicating file cannot find anything out about it.
• head radpack.tar.gz outputs a string of unintelligible unicode.

These are the different solutions I have come across after searching this problem, and to me is good evidence that the file has been corrupted in some way and that may very well be the case. However, for archival and historical purposes it would be great if I could access the contents, so I am compelled to search out other solutions. Are there other options I can try here? Is there some way to confirm that the file is in fact corrupted beyond recovery? Any help on this point would be greatly appreciated. I posted this on stack exchange as well but figured maybe the smart folks here might know.

EDIT:

Just to be clear this has been solved — a functioning copy of the archive was found.

[Context: I do computational research in the natural sciences.]

I have been tasked with verifying the correctness of a ~3000 LOC software project written in a mix of Fortrans 77 and 90. I have made some small amount of headway with getting the program up and running, but it seems like every time I make one step forward I take ten steps back.
Some issues with the program:

• It only compiles with one, specific, closed-source compiler
• Useless variable names
• Minimal comments (the ones that do exist are near-gibberish, explain the obvious, or comment out debugging print statements)
• Weird decisions are made with no justification, e.g. the code author decided that, if we are considering the calculations on the first molecule, we are only to consider its first atom
• Magic numbers everywhere, very few of which are known physical constants or their conversions
• etc, etc, etc.

I am reaching peak frustration after having worked with this code for only a few weeks. At this point, the idea of sitting down and rewriting the program from scratch is very, very tempting.
Do I need to just step back, relax, and keep hitting my head against the wall, or is this a situation where a rewrite may be necessary?