Exercise 1.1 – What is Upstream and Downstream ?

  • An upstream in open source is the source repository and project where contributions happen and releases are made.
  • The contributions flow from upstream to downstream.
  • Upstream refers to the software that a distribution packages and ships to users (such as GNOME, and the Linux kernel).
  • If the RHEL developers make a change to GNOME, they would then send that change upstream.
  • Fedora is upstream of RHEL.