![[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]](https://www.lsoft.com/images/HDR-LISTSERV-sm.gif)
There are many possible ways to measure the relative "importance" or "size" of LISTSERV sites: number of lists, number of subscribers, number of messages delivered, etc. In most cases, the number of messages delivered is used to rank mailing list managers, because it is the most accurate measurement of the amount of activity on the server. But, depending on what you are looking for, other variables may be more appropriate. There are currently three LISTSERV "Top 20" lists, ranking the various servers according to:
In addition, you can view a list of the Top 20 lists in the network (by number of subscribers).
The statistics are gathered daily by a monitor at L-Soft which polls all the LISTSERV sites that participate in the "open" LISTSERV network over the worldwide Internet. Corporate servers operating in a "closed" environment are not included.
The statistics are organized in monthly reports. The message volume figures are a flat average of the accumulated traffic for the entire month. Thus, a server that delivers 300,000 messages per month will show a daily average of 10,000 messages. In practice, there is a lot less traffic during the weekend, and even during business days there can be significant fluctuations (~30%). The list statistics (number of lists, number of subscribers, largest lists in the network) are measured as of the last day in the month.
For the current month, the message volume figures are averaged based on the number of days that have elapsed. In practice, the figures are not very meaningful in the first few days, especially if the month starts on a weekend. In that case it is best to refer to the previous month for more accurate figures.
A fourth "Top 20" list is available for the more technically oriented: Number of messages generated by the server. This corresponds to the number of mail messages created by the server while processing postings to its mailing lists. LISTSERV delivers its mail using an intelligent mail delivery function called DISTRIBUTE, which improves mail delivery times and reduces bandwidth usage by spreading the delivery chore over scores of participating servers. Each of these servers processes the recipients for its service area (typically its organization or campus). In most cases, DISTRIBUTE simply alters the manner in which the mail is delivered, and the number of messages forwarded to other sites for optimized delivery is roughly equal to the number of messages received by other sites for the same purpose. In some cases, however, this is not the case, either because the server elected to serve a much wider service area than its own organization, or because it is explicitly forwarding all its deliveries to another machine (for instance, many mainframe-based servers forward their mail to a workstation or PC for delivery).
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 2441869 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 492814 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 433479 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 4 374179 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 5 359126 LISTSERV.MSN.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 338054 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 331498 MAIL.EWORLD.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 327861 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5) 9 326053 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 10 304301 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 256977 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 12 245694 LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.0a) 13 242610 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 231093 LISTSERV.GMD.DE (OpenVMS V7.1 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 212190 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 194052 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 3.2.4) 17 186917 LSV.UNTPDC.ORG (IRIX 6.2 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 175051 HEARNNT.NIC.SURFNET.NL (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 19 165998 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 152292 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.26)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3990241 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 2 1663347 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 3 1091767 MICROSOFT.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 479889 LISTSERV.MSN.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 477119 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 165451 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 7 151145 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 137735 SERVICES.WEB.AOL.COM (Solaris 2.4) 9 125704 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 10 103069 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.4) 11 96943 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5) 12 88102 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 82920 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.0a) 14 76849 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 75214 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 16 73647 UGA (VM/ESA 2.1.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 73332 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 72054 LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 19 69525 MITVMA (VM/ESA 2.1.0) 20 65332 CC1.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (VM/ESA 2.2)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 1553 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 2 1244 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 3 1161 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 4 1096 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 970 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 926 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 7 916 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.2) 8 878 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 9 827 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5) 10 711 UGA (VM/ESA 2.1.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 685 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 12 633 LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 630 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 584 LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 578 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.4) 16 569 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 551 ULKYVM.LOUISVILLE.EDU (VM/ESA 2.1.0) 18 543 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.1.5) 19 530 TC.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.4) 20 503 VM.TEMPLE.EDU (VM/ESA 2.1.0)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 792334 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 623657 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 486205 MITVMA (VM/ESA 2.1.0) 4 451306 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 5 443770 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 6 430864 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 397583 LISTSERV.MSN.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 387752 MAIL.EWORLD.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 384868 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5) 10 339556 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 11 290451 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 290022 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 13 245090 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 233641 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 3.2.4) 15 205557 LSV.UNTPDC.ORG (IRIX 6.2 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 203527 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.26) 17 180195 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 168596 CUNYVM (VM/ESA 2.1.0) 19 142665 UAFSYSB.UARK.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2.0) 20 140813 BROWNVM (VM/ESA 1.1)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 844441 DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 2 737859 IEUSERS@MICROSOFT.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 272585 SHAREWARE-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 4 249378 DOWNLOAD-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 5 233423 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 6 191895 GAMECENTER-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 7 129165 NEWS-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 8 104928 DISPATCH-HTML@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 9 76719 BROWSER-ALERT-PC@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 10 75021 ANSWERMAN@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 11 57726 NETGUIDE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 12 47124 NEWS-DISPATCH-HTML@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 13 46335 TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 14 39273 POLOCLUB@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 33052 MOMSONLINE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 16 31754 SCOUT-REPORT@LISTS.INTERNIC.NET (Solaris 2.5.1) 17 30753 DOWNLOAD-DISPATCH-MAC@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 18 30222 ABOUTWORKNEWS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 19 30063 FIRSTNEWS@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 29599 ACTIVEX-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a)
