does the mysql/mariadb comparison actually make sense? mysql is not really a downstream distro of mariadb (maaybe even the opposite?) so i thought i understood the situation as presented until that paragraph
My, Maria, and Max are his kids. There is MaxScale which is a L7 SQL proxy/loadbalancer
That said, it seems to be a common point of confusion among FOSS die-hards, but still super unfortunate to see it repeated in this context!
Imho, downstream are all consumers/users of that product. I guess it's arguable how a package manager positions in that terminology.
Edit: Also I originally said, "it was the thing used downstream", which just is to describe the consumers. Also not sure what I got into, because the original question is wildly confusing!