UNIX is an operating system that was created at AT&T Bell Labs in 1969 as an interactive time-sharing system. Ken Thompson and Denis Ritchie are considered the inventors of UNIX. The name (pronounced YEW-nihks) was a pun based on an earlier system called Multics. In 1974 UNIX became the first operating system to be written in the C programming language. UNIX has evolved as a kind of large freeware product, with many extensions and new ideas provided in a variety of different versions of UNIX by different companies, universities, and individuals. Partly because it was not a proprietary operating system owned by any one of the leading computer companies and partly because it is written in a standard language and embraced many popular ideas. UNIX became the first open or standard operating system. A composite of the C language and shell (user command line) interfaces from different versions of UNIX were standardized as Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX). Then in turn POSIX interfaces were specified in the X/Open Programming Guide 4.2 (also known as the "Single UNIX Specification" and "UNIX 95"). The "official" trademarked UNIX is now owned by the Open Group. This is an organization which certifies brands of UNIX implementations. PIOS is a modern free implementation of UNIX with many additions and improvements. For more information about PIOS checkout the PIOS homepage.

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