This is just a dummy file allowing users to make modifications to the repository, thus

forcing a one-time authentication, without actually changing anything.

New developers can force authentication with a command sequence like the following:

svn co https://drjava.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/drjava/trunk/misc/authenticate

cd authenticate

svn propset touched myUserName authenticate.txt

svn commit -m "Touched by myUserName"