On 2026-03-01 12:12 p.m., Steve Lewis wrote:
Well, emulators for CTSS are out there, so someone got that source code
somehow. Maybe that's a place to start, digging into how that code was
obtained (is it even in ASCII?)
.
In the runtime emulation of CTSS I see, it notes a KSR-37 being used (in
the operation of the OS, not for its development). So that's late 60's era.
But kind of mentally running the origin of CTSS back to 1961 - maybe
there were Model 28 TTY's available, or the IBM 709 series had their own
terminal (which in either case would be pre-ASCII).
Also reading early usage of ASR-33, it seems it was referred to just as
"Model 33" early on - I see in 1964 Datamation it being referred to as
that. But yes, still relatively expensive for the time. IBM's teletype
cost I'd guess is essentially absorbed into the overall cost of the
system, not really a line item separate purchase.
I still think it's a good bet that MULTICS at some point existed in the
form of punch cards. (as also SCOPE, AOSP, and Atlas Supervisor).
-Steve
Punched cards, may have been on mag tape, from a Satellite computer;Thus
the cards may have been kept on a different system.
Ben.
