![[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 3004387 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 746000 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 614679 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 604765 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 601530 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 407845 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 380978 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 327345 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 9 311514 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 310786 LISTSERV.GMD.DE (OpenVMS V7.1 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 292624 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 12 269963 ETO.UNTPDC.ORG (IRIX 6.2 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 256135 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 247593 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.34) 15 217014 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 193399 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 186744 LISTSERV-MAIL.SURFNET.NL (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 185358 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 177485 LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 171177 H-NET.MSU.EDU (AIX 4.1)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 5254227 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 4951682 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 2861314 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 2798155 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1946333 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1098665 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 659770 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 8 610661 MM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 457450 LISTSERV.MSN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 424468 LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 402822 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 321137 LISTSERV.INTERNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 274696 LISTSERV.OFFICEMAX.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 225694 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 15 213136 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 211184 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 182593 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 18 175612 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.2) 19 158801 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 156004 LISTS.DISCOVERY.COM (IRIX 6.2)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 13013 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 2 2099 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 3 2049 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 4 1846 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 5 1772 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 6 1680 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 1558 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 1437 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 1228 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 1136 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 1102 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 12 1059 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 1025 UGA.CC.UGA.EDU (VM/ESA 2.1.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 966 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 15 945 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 16 932 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 17 907 LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 886 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.2) 19 881 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 3.2.4) 20 838 VM.SC.EDU (VM/ESA 2)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 901250 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 820491 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 786085 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 772567 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 619623 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 520731 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 462109 MITVMA (VM/ESA 2.2.0) 8 382124 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 9 318555 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.34) 10 311514 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 310163 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 12 298335 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 284452 ETO.UNTPDC.ORG (IRIX 6.2 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 252402 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 235436 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 225944 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 223401 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 18 207502 H-NET.MSU.EDU (AIX 4.1) 19 184148 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 3.2.4) 20 180896 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 256512 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 186399 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 130972 DIETCITY-AOL@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 108818 JAVASCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 106705 DIETCITY@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 104707 SUBSCRIBERS-JAVASCRIPTS-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 94670 SYMPOSIUM-WEBCAST@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 93962 DEVELOPER-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 84959 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 81295 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 74361 INTERNET-WORLD-CIRCULATION@LISTSERV.INTERNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 72806 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.5.1) 13 68660 NETGUIDE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 66572 ABOUTWORKNEWS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 63195 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 52688 TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 52329 WEBREFERENCE-UPDATE@LISTSERV.INTERNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 48864 DATAMATION-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 19 48642 SEARCH-ENGINE-REPORT@LISTSERV.INTERNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 48264 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
