Final answer:
Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie are the two people credited with creating the UNIX operating system at AT&T Bell Labs. UNIX's original open nature led to various commercialized and proprietary versions. The system's evolution played a significant role in the development of modern computing, especially with the emergence of open-source alternatives like Linux.
Step-by-step explanation:
The two people accredited with creating the UNIX operating system are Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie. This duo, while working at AT&T Bell Labs, developed UNIX initially as a simple and elegant operating system for programmers. Its open and more-or-less free nature evolved into various commercialized versions, with proprietary distributions emerging from companies such as IBM, Microsoft, and others.
The story of UNIX is not just about its creators but also about its evolution and impact on computing. The licensing of UNIX by AT&T and its subsequent commercialization gave rise to various proprietary operating systems. However, the high cost and limited accessibility led to the development of alternative open-source options, such as Linux by Linus Torvalds, which dramatically changed the landscape of computing and challenged the dominance of proprietary systems.