Upstream allows users to send it log files to support personal. Thus,
instead of say, having to run 'cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log/' and then copy
and paste the output in to a pastebin, the user can now just run
upstream --video to send the same logs via http POST to a location
specified by the developers in the config file.
This helps support personnel in the long run, because instead of
explaining to a new user what 'cat' means, they can just ask him/her
to run 'upstream --network' and get the output of
'/var/log/daemon.log' delivered safely to their support system.
If needed, developers can even configure Upstream to talk directly to
their support tracker. Future plans for Upstream include an
implementation of XML-RPC standards, allowing communication with more
CMSs and support systems worldwide. At the moment, this current
Pre-Alpha version of Upstream talks to a Wordpress plugin on the
server side to input data.
The word Upstream is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the physical act
(vocation) of logging.