Does your "friend" remember which wallet software it was? It might be possible to figure it out, because back in 2010 there weren't terribly many wallets available. It could involve a lengthy research in this forum digging through old topics and posts.

No backups available? No hand-written notes?

Well, if your friend used exotic cli tools, he should've documented what he used. Actually he should've documented stuff regardless of what he used. All too often it shows that after considerable time has passed, devices died and whatnot else, people don't remember what they have done or used and how.

I mention this here not to poke a finger in wounds but to highlight the importance of proper documentation for valuable assets and how they're stored and how they can be restored. Don't forget to actually test if you can restore a wallet from backed up details. If you don't have this, it's only a matter of time when it will shoot you in your foot.