Soifwehavetographicallydepictthisintheformof a river, thensofterdeveloperorpeoplewhodevelopedsoftwarewouldberightatthetopoftheorigin.
Enteroffthisriver, um, alonenextdistribution, forexample, Debiancouldbesomewheredown, andit's derivativelike a boontowillbesomewherefurtherdown.
Now, ifwe'retalkingaboutDebbieinandsay, forexample, theyfind a buginoneofitssoftwarepackages, sayFirefoxbrowser, thentheywouldreportthebugupstream.
AndwhatwemeanisthatDavidreportthebugtothedeveloperorFirefox, however, incaseof a boontotheupstreamcouldmeanDebbieinoursoftwaredeveloperforothernondebian.
Softerasyoumustbe a verylowboontoalsousespackagesfromPEOPIErepositories.
Sothesoftwarecouldbe a nondebiansoftware.
Soitdepends a lotonthecontextofwherethetermisusedandsimilarlydownstreaminthecaseoffDebbieinwouldbe a boonto.
AndifDebianhasreceived a patchforoneofitssoftwarefromupstream, thenitwillsendthepatchdownstreamthatruins.
Itwillsend a patchto a boontoallright.
Nowlet's talkaboutthetermforknottowardforkas a verbmeanstodivideintotwoparts.
Now, Forkisalso a systemcalledusingRelaxColonel, whichactuallycreates a duplicateprocess.
ButintermsofsoftwareAsperWikipediaforkhappenswhendevelopercopiesthesourcecourtoff a softwareandstartindependentdevelopmentonit, creating a distinctandseparatepieceoffsoftware.
Nowthenextlineisalsoveryimportant.
Thetermoftenimpliesnotmerely a developmentbranchbut a splitinthedevelopercommunityofform.
OffChisholmExamplesoffforkwouldbeMartydesktopenvironment, whichis a forkoffnormtosimilarlycinnamondesktopenvironment.
Now a derivativealsomeanstakingthesoftrecordorpackagesandmaking a completelynewsoftware.
Forexample, youboontois a derivativeoffDebianorisit?
Well, itis a derivative, andsomepeoplemaydebateonthat.
Butdon't thetwowordsmeansalmostthesame.
Butifwegobythedefinitionofffork, itinvolved a schismwhichis a splitinthedevelopercommunityandhas a negativeconnotationtomakethismoreclear.
I wouldliketorefertoanoldbutgreatpaperwrittenbyBenjaminMacroHill, whichgoesbythetitleToforkornottofork.
Nowhetalksaboutforindetailandrights.
Therehavebeen a numberoffamousforksinfreesoftwarehistory, oneofthemostfamouswaterChismthatledtotheparalleldevelopmentofftwoversionsoffIMAXtexteditorgrewIMAXand X E Max.
Now, asyoucansee, thereis a negativefeelingliketherehasbeennodivisionindevelopALScommunitydisagreementoffdevelopers.
Youhavethatkindoffeeling a derivative.
Howarddoesnotinvolvedinissues, um, anddoesnothave a negativeconnotationornegativesense, infact, a boontowhichisderivativeoff.
DebianusesTheaunstableripoffDebbieinifitfinds a bugandcreates a patchforit.
Inhispaper, hefurthercourtsoneoftheprominentDebiandeveloperScottJames, permanent, whosay's I don't think a boontois a forkoffDebbieinatleastnotinthetraditionalsense.