![[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 3537051 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 1022879 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 748050 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 714405 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 663582 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 480119 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 473142 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 8 445639 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 388242 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 10 356324 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 326026 LISTSERV.GMD.DE (OpenVMS V7.1-1H2 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 318893 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36) 13 247298 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 226175 H-NET.MSU.EDU (AIX 4.1) 15 224976 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 219576 DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 204720 UGA.CC.UGA.EDU (VM/ESA 2.1.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 200545 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 19 193042 LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 192574 LISTSERV-MAIL.SURFNET.NL (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 6314487 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 4953397 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 3421321 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2226054 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2066873 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1473525 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 617530 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 8 610659 MM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 578197 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 10 568802 LISTSERV.OFFICEMAX.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 501606 LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 457007 LISTSERV.MSN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 406073 MAILSERV.DIGITALCITY.COM (Solaris 2.5.1) 14 401168 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 268175 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 247034 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 17 215222 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 205032 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.2) 19 203787 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 20 166090 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.0.35)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 9084 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 2 4801 LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 2798 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 4 2285 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 5 2231 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 6 1825 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 1719 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 1676 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 9 1611 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 1326 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 1228 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 1199 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 13 1176 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 1123 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 15 1119 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 16 1088 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 17 1079 UGA.CC.UGA.EDU (VM/ESA 2.1.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 966 LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 952 VM.SC.EDU (VM/ESA 2.3.0) 20 933 HERMES.CIRC.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1189999 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 977797 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 936289 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 918780 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 669713 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 619403 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 559570 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 8 479614 MITVMA (VM/ESA 2.2.0) 9 431149 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 408825 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 11 408468 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36) 12 289777 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 276692 H-NET.MSU.EDU (AIX 4.1) 14 267635 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 15 261784 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 237967 DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 234268 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 230988 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 200045 LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 192637 UGA.CC.UGA.EDU (VM/ESA 2.1.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 228625 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 208315 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 191037 JAVASCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 183867 DIETCITY-AOL@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 135078 DIETCITY@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 133228 BVTESTLIST@MAILSERV.DIGITALCITY.COM (Solaris 2.5.1) 7 97482 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 95972 DEVELOPER-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 94508 SYMPOSIUM-WEBCAST@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 94031 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 93575 SUBSCRIBERS-JAVASCRIPTS-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 92420 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 13 84999 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 72933 BVDAILYNOTE@MAILSERV.DIGITALCITY.COM (Solaris 2.5.1) 15 68724 NETGUIDE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 66659 ABOUTWORKNEWS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 62102 TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 59651 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 58348 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 56776 THEONLINEINVESTOR@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
