In Europe we  have NOT set the LINKFAIL list  to Mail-via= DISTRIBUTE, because
this may cause mail to go through servers  which do not lay in the direct path
between the server  housing the list and the intended  recipient. For example,
mail for CUNYVM people could then  be routed (from CEARN) via [log in to unmask]
This is not very important for a  regular list, but keep in mind that LINKFAIL
is used to announce  down links. If we had set LINKFAIL  to use DISTRIBUTE, it
would  have been  impossible  for  Austrian NADs  to  receive notification  of
AWIIMC11 being down, because LISTSERV@AWIIMC11 is the only LISTSERV in Austria
and would have received the distribution. Instead, we have set up peers in all
the major nodes where it was deemed to  be worthwile, and which mail HAS to go
through to reach the destination. If LISTSERV@DEARN can't be reached, it means
that  DEARN is  down and  that germany  will be  unreachable anyway.  The only
exception to this rule is LINKFAIL@FRECP11, but then we had to do something to
relieve the CEARN-FRMOP22 line, and there is no other LISTSERV in France.
 
  Eric