Centauri System Works

Centauri System Works (Cen-Sys) is a Shroud based digital-technology Market Cooperative located in the Carceri system. Cen-Sys is famous for its titular operating system which is the most commonly used aboard ships in the Shroud. Cen-Sys primarily develops their operating system, however the company offers a number of other digital products and services, and is one of the largest technology cooperatives in the inner shroud.

## History

Centauri System Works was founded August 19th 3021 (872/33 Universal Standard Time) in the Carceri System. Originally founded with the intent to produce sensor software for locally manufactured space craft, Cen-Sys quickly found itself expanding rapidly along side the growing Carceri Shipbuilding industry. Founded by an original team of 8 programmers and designers, by 3031 -- a decade after its foundation -- Cen-Sys officially listed itself on the Shroud Stock Exchange under the ticker CSYS with an initial issuance of 5%.

One year later the official adoption of Cen-Sys sensor software by the Centauri General Defense Committee saw the listing price of Cen-Sys stock to shoot up from $6 Terran Dollars to over $34. The sudden influx of cash allowed for Cen-Sys to expand its staff to nearly 100, and saw the company officially open its Operating System Work Group by 3040. From there the original Cen-Sys OS (CSOS) was developed and released in 3044. It was a huge success, propelling the group's stock to a further value of $57 by 3042. That same year the Board of Directors was authorized by a special ballot to release a further issuance of 5% on company stock, raising the firm nearly $2.9B Terran Dollars. Today the company generates most of its revenue developing its Cen-Sys OS and providing support for new vessels and technologies. It remains one of the most succesful Market-traded cooperatives in the inner shroud and is hailed as an exemplar of the Anarchist-Market economy of the region.

## Structure

Cen-Sys is operated as a Market-Cooperative, meaning its board of Directors is elected internally by employees, and all non-public stock is the collective possession of its staff. The current Constitution of Cen-Sys provides for two-year terms for board members, after which a public election is held by general-ballot. Like most Market-Cooperatives, management in Cen-Sys is elected syndically, with each department electing its leadership through annual elections, or through recall elections should a threshhold of 30% of relevant staff sign a recall petition.
Cen-Sys is a publically listed company, with a 15% issuance. All Market-Cooperatives in the inner shroud are required by charter to retain a minimum of 50% +1 of stock in collective ownership. To issue further stock a special ballot must be declared, with a simple majority of elligible staff voting in the positive. Additionally the company charter allows for the repurchase of issued stock through the same method. The current Company Charter as of the last General Ballot (Circa Aug 1st 3135) dictates that 60% of profits be disbursed to all staff as an Internal Dividend, with the remaining 40% being placed at the Board of Directors disposal for the purposes of expanding the company.

## Cen-Sys OS

Centauri System Works most famous and succesful product is its Cen-Sys Operating System, which is the most commonly used Operating System on ships within the Shroud. The Cen-Sys OS first gained traction when it was adopted as the primary ship operating system by the Centauri General Defense Commitee. Since then it's adoption has become nearly universal throughout the Shroud, and the Operating System has been expanded to support not only Shroud-made ships, but even Terrastrat or Maast & Nicol ships.

Cen-Sys OS features a remarkably simplistic and light-weight terminal-based user interface designed for experienced users. Most programs are interacted with via this terminal interface, with a sparse graphical interface used only for some programs. Because of this simplistic implementation, CSOS is considered a remarkable lightweight, flexible, and easily expandable operating system. Because of this, many vessels have been known to modify their version of CSOS, importing custom programs and creating bespoke automation software, something which the operating system specializes in. CSOS is considered especially useful for vessels which seek to utilize heavy programatic automation, or which dedicate substantial processing power to their tasks, and need maximal efficiency as a result.

Thanks to this light-weight implementation CSOS has even seen some use outside of the Shroud, especially by Electronic-Warfare, Sensor, and data-running vessels, which require fast and responsible interfaces when undergoing heavy processing loads.