WIP: distribution refactor

[rigelrozanski]

• Targeted PR against correct branch (see CONTRIBUTING.md)

• Linked to github-issue with discussion and accepted design OR link to spec that describes this work.

• Wrote tests

• Updated relevant documentation (docs/)

• Added entries in PENDING.md with issue #

• rereviewed Files changed in the github PR explorer

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For Admin Use:

• Added appropriate labels to PR (ex. wip, ready-for-review, docs)
• Reviewers Assigned
• Squashed all commits, uses message "Merge pull request #XYZ: [title]" (coding standards)

[codecov]

Codecov Report

Merging #2578 into develop will decrease coverage by 0.18%.
The diff coverage is 48.71%.

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##           develop   #2578      +/-   ##
==========================================
- Coverage    60.08%   59.9%   -0.19%     
==========================================
  Files          150     151       +1     
  Lines         8704    8754      +50     
==========================================
+ Hits          5230    5244      +14     
- Misses        3116    3152      +36     
  Partials       358     358

[jaekwon]

hold this PR please.

[rigelrozanski]

Sure - @jaekwon feel free to make changes directly here - it's all yours

[rigelrozanski]

replaced by #2597 and #2599