The UNIX® Brand and Certification

Understanding the guarantee of quality and interoperability behind the UNIX name.

The Three Pillars of Certification

The UNIX certification program is built on three core ingredients required for a truly open system.

Specifications

Widely accepted and available documents describing the software interfaces between components.

Products

Computer systems developed by vendors to meet the strict requirements of The Open Group specifications.

Assurance

The guarantee that products meet conformance requirements by passing rigorous tests developed by The Open Group.

UNIX certification is widely recognized as the international symbol of assurance in open systems. By the end of 2001, the value of procurements referencing the brand had already exceeded $25 billion.

Evolution of the Brand

Customers can identify certified products by the Open Brand logo and a mandatory attribution declaring which version of the specification the product complies with.

UNIX 95
Conforms to the original Single UNIX Specification.
UNIX 98
Conforms to the Single UNIX Specification, Version 2.
UNIX 03
Conforms to the Single UNIX Specification, Version 3.
UNIX V7
Conforms to the Single UNIX Specification, Version 4, 2018 Edition.

The Vendor Guarantee

In licensing the UNIX brand, a vendor warrants and represents that every certified product:

Conforms to the specification.

Meets all testing requirements.

Will continue to conform.

Will be rectified if non-conformant.

A Specification of Value

The Single UNIX Specification provides distinct, powerful benefits across the entire IT industry.

For Users

Products supporting the specification provide a powerful open platform, offering freedom of choice and protecting investments in software and data.

For Software Vendors

A unified standard significantly cuts the cost of development and maintenance, while expanding the market opportunity and reducing time-to-market.

For System Vendors

The specification unifies a fragmented market, allowing all to compete on equal terms while reducing the investment required to maintain technical incompatibilities.