<div dir="ltr">Yes, Amdahl UTS supported the 1403 from earliest days.<div>There even seem to be some mods to 'tbl' to support it.</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Dec 19, 2023 at 9:40 AM Paul Winalski <<a href="mailto:paul.winalski@gmail.com">paul.winalski@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">On 12/18/23, Dave Horsfall <<a href="mailto:dave@horsfall.org" target="_blank">dave@horsfall.org</a>> wrote:<br>
> On Mon, 18 Dec 2023, Paul Winalski wrote:<br>
><br>
>> The 132-character screen width was for displaying files originally<br>
>> formatted to be printed on a line printer. Compiler listings and linker<br>
>> maps, for example.<br>
><br>
> Such as the mighty 1403 :-)<br>
><br>
> Hint: never leave your cup of coffee on top of it, as the lid will open<br>
> automatically when it runs out of paper...<br>
<br>
The 1403 was the best line printer ever made. It was originally the<br>
printer for the IBM 1400 second-generation (discrete transistor-based)<br>
computer. It continued to be the line printer for S/360. The deluxe<br>
model, the IBM 1403 N1, had a power cover that could be operated under<br>
computer control. The OS/360 operating system would raise the<br>
printer's cover if an error condition occurred, such as out of paper<br>
or a paper jam. This was a very useful feature in large data centers<br>
where there were several line printers, to indicate which printer had<br>
a problem.<br>
<br>
The cover of a 1403 N1 also provided a convenient and attractive flat<br>
surface on which to place things. But a dangerous one. Many a card<br>
deck magtape reel, coffee cup, or pizza box has been unceremoniously<br>
dumped on the floor.<br>
<br>
When our shop upgraded from a S/360 model 25 to a S/370 model 125, our<br>
1403 was replaced by a 3203 line printer. It was not as good as the<br>
1401 had been.<br>
<br>
There was a business in Massachusetts in the 1980s that bought and<br>
sold old IBM computer gear. A company asked them for a quote on their<br>
IBM 1400 system (1401 processor, 1402 card read/punch, 1403 printer).<br>
They were offered $18,000 for the whole system, or $15,000 for the<br>
1403 printer alone. That's how valued those printers were.<br>
<br>
To bring this closer on-topic, was there Unix support for the IBM 1403?<br>
<br>
-Paul W.<br>
</blockquote></div>