.TH distributions "5" "02/08/93" "Version 4.01" "Reference"
.SH NAME
distributions - discriptions of available distributions
.SH DESCRIPTION
.PP
This ASCII text file contains the definitions of the distribution
codes that are valid on the system.  A distribution code identifies
the geographical spread of an article, which is useful for certain
types of messages.  The file contains of lines of ASCII text, with
only two fields (separated by one or more <TAB> and/or <SPACE>
characters).  The first field is the name of the distribution code,
to be used in article headers. The second field is the explanation
of the distribution.
.sp 1
A sample
.B distributions
file could be:
.sp 1
.nf
 local   local to this site
 mugnet  everywhere on MUGNET
 world   everywhere in the world
 nl      Netherlands only
 de      Germany only
 fr      France only
 uk      United Kingdom only
 usa     United States only
.fi
.sp 1
Note, that this file is only used by the
.B pnews
program to see if the user typed a valid distribution code.  It must
therefore be readable by all users who may post news!
SH FILES
.nf
/usr/lib/news/distributions
.fi
.SH AUTHOR
.nf
Fred N. van Kempen, waltje@uwalt.nl.mugnet.org
.fi
.SH "SEE ALSO"
W-NEWS Reference Manual
