What is the history of the development of the Single UNIX Specification?
The Open Group has been the custodian of the specification for the UNIX system and the trademark since 1994. This is a source level API specification which has traditionally built upon the formal IEEE POSIX standards. It is vendor neutral and not tied to any particular implementation. The project that led to the creation of the Single UNIX Specification started when several vendors (Sun Microsystems, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Novell/USL, and OSF) joined together to provide a single unified specification of the UNIX system services. By implementing a single common definition of the UNIX system services, third-party independent software vendors (ISVs) would be able to more easily deliver strategic applications on all of these vendors’ platforms at once. A two-pronged approach was used to develop the Single UNIX Specification. First, a set of formal industry specifications was chosen to form the overall base for the work. This would provide stability, vendor neutrality, and lay a well charted
