![[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 3480444 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 1029233 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 722169 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 695117 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 630632 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 482019 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 435532 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 409486 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 9 315429 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 10 301454 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36) 11 261164 LISTSERV.GMD.DE (OpenVMS V7.1-1H2 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 260853 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 4.2) 13 246175 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 244875 DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 212668 NEWSHOST.NYTIMES.COM (???) 16 208217 LISTSERV-MAIL.SURFNET.NL (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 203747 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 200650 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 195929 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 190076 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 6755967 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 4953404 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 3548646 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2362849 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1667468 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1595253 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 1446756 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 735722 LISTSERV.OFFICEMAX.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 610657 MM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 585975 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 11 551260 MAILSERV.DIGITALCITY.COM (Solaris 2.5.1) 12 510661 LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 401112 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 262894 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 248732 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 16 246786 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 17 229499 SMULTRON.EASE.ALGONET.SE (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 219489 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 19 208075 LISTS.EMAILDIRECT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 200019 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 4646 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 2 2364 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3) 3 2315 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 4 2047 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 5 1860 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 1744 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1718 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 8 1647 LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 1644 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 1367 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 1282 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 1230 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 13 1192 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 1175 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 15 1150 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 16 1144 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 17 1023 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 947 HERMES.CIRC.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 19 946 VENUS.VCU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 20 940 LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1201373 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 948321 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 916503 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 806191 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 702485 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 630650 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 486779 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 8 463821 MITVMA (VM/ESA 2.2.0) 9 385849 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36) 10 339013 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 11 323637 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 4.2) 12 282365 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 270534 NEWSHOST.NYTIMES.COM (???) 14 270373 DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 263120 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 236245 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 228520 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 227127 H-NET.MSU.EDU (AIX 4.1) 19 219414 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 207621 JAVA.SUN.COM (???)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 226257 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 215796 DIETCITY-AOL@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 208073 VALUE-MAIL@LISTS.EMAILDIRECT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 196126 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 166401 DIETCITY@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 133238 BVTESTLIST@MAILSERV.DIGITALCITY.COM (Solaris 2.5.1) 7 126571 BVNEWSLETTER@MAILSERV.DIGITALCITY.COM (Solaris 2.5.1) 8 108622 JAVASCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 106001 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 105269 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 99950 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 12 99671 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 96007 SCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 94434 SYMPOSIUM-WEBCAST@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 92467 DEVELOPER-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 87090 SUBSCRIBERS-JAVASCRIPTS-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 84761 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 72941 BVDAILYNOTE@MAILSERV.DIGITALCITY.COM (Solaris 2.5.1) 19 68753 NETGUIDE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 66689 ABOUTWORKNEWS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
