<s>
In	O
software	B-Application
development	O
,	O
downstream	B-General_Concept
refers	O
to	O
a	O
direction	O
away	O
from	O
the	O
original	B-General_Concept
authors	I-General_Concept
or	O
maintainers	B-General_Concept
of	O
software	B-Application
that	O
is	O
distributed	O
as	O
source	O
code	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
a	O
qualification	O
of	O
a	O
patch	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
a	O
patch	B-Application
sent	O
downstream	B-General_Concept
is	O
offered	O
to	O
the	O
developers	O
or	O
maintainers	B-General_Concept
of	O
a	O
forked	B-Application
software	B-Application
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
accepted	O
,	O
the	O
developers	O
or	O
maintainers	B-General_Concept
will	O
include	O
the	O
patch	B-Application
in	O
their	O
software	B-Application
fork	I-Application
,	O
either	O
immediately	O
or	O
in	O
a	O
future	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
contrast	O
,	O
see	O
Upstream	B-General_Concept
(	O
software	B-Application
development	O
)	O
,	O
code	O
sent	O
toward	O
the	O
original	O
development	O
team	O
.	O
</s>
