There are lots of newsgroups that are specifically for posting test
articles.  If you need to test world-wide distribution then you can
use misc.test or alt.test.  A lot of sites have set up these
newsgroups so that they will send automated reply that tells you they
received your message.  If you don't want to receive those automated
replies, then you can put the word `ignore' in the article's
Subject.

If you only need local distribution for your test then it's best to
use a test newsgroup that is specific to your host.  This way you
will (hopefully) save the Net from distributing some bytes.  Usually
this type of newsgroup is named host.test.  For example, hosts that I
used have these test groups: halcyon.test, best.test, texasnet.test,
and realtime.test.

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