IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 defines a standard operating system interface and environment, including a command interpreter (or "shell"), and common utility programs to support applications portability at the source code level. It is intended to be used by both applications developers and system implementors. IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 comprises four major components (each in an associated volume): 1. General terms, concepts, and interfaces common to all volumes of IEEE Std 1003.1-2008, including utility conventions and C-language header definitions, are included in the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2008. 2. Definitions for system service functions and subroutines, language-specific system services for the C programming language, function issues, including portability, error handling, and error recovery, are included in the System Interfaces volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2008. 3. Definitions for a standard source code-level interface to command interpretation services (a "shell") and common utility programs for application programs are included in the Shell and Utilities volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2008. 4. Extended rationale that did not fit well into the rest of the document structure, containing historical information concerning the contents of IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 and why features were included or discarded by the standard developers, is included in the Rationale (Informative) volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2008. The following areas are outside of the scope of IEEE Std 1003.1-2008: * Graphics interfaces * Database management system interfaces * Record I/O considerations * Object or binary code portability * System configuration and resource availability IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 describes the external characteristics and facilities that are of importance to applications developers, rather than the internal construction techniques employed to achieve these capabilities. Special emphasis is placed on those functions and facilities that are needed in a wide variety of commercial applications. The facilities provided in IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 are drawn from the following base documents: * IEEE Std 1003.1(TM), 2004 Edition (POSIX-1) (incorporating IEEE Stds 1003.1(TM)-2001, 1003.1(TM)-2001/Cor 1-2002 and 1003.1(TM)-2001/Cor 2-2004) * Open Group Technical Standard, 2006, Extended API Set Part 1 * Open Group Technical Standard, 2006, Extended API Set Part 2 * Open Group Technical Standard, 2006, Extended API Set Part 3 * Open Group Technical Standard, 2006, Extended API Set Part 4 * ISO/IEC 9899:1999, Programming Languages - C.