What is robots.txt.dist used for?

Question

In Joomla (CMS) the installation comes with a file called "robots.txt.dist". I know what robots.txt is used for, but don't know why a .dist version would exist. The install comes with a normal robots.txt which to me seems that makes the other file not needed.

Answer 1

.dist files are usually just an example file to get you going but aren't intended to be used as the real thing.

Answer 2

.dist means distribution. It's just sample of robots.txt. Normally, you should do mv robots.txt.dist robots.txt to set default robots.txt file, to make your website more search engines friendly. But text dist were added to not overwrite your current robots.txt.