![[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 3419593 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 936350 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 668579 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 664070 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 611928 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (???) 6 540608 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 372643 JAVA.SUN.COM (???) 8 355368 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 339980 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 336525 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 11 305340 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 12 294071 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 221837 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 210404 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.12) 15 207144 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 192559 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36) 17 192478 DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 190158 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 189157 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 176064 LISTS.LDSWORLD.COM (???)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 4267651 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 3475201 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 3067191 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2456402 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2237029 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 2019501 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1687199 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1333762 LISTSERV.OFFICEMAX.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 867311 LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 832377 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 11 750777 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 610652 MM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 610416 EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 14 571028 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 379456 LISTS.EMAILDIRECT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 315962 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.2) 17 314652 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 18 306583 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 19 271649 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 20 268309 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.7-1.15)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 14280 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 2 4993 LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 2944 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 4 2854 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 5 2415 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3) 6 2304 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 2069 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1994 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 9 1782 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 1562 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 11 1417 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 12 1414 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 13 1405 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 14 1393 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 1363 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 1335 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 1287 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 1282 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 19 1216 HERMES.CIRC.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 20 1189 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 25943732 LISTAS.PROINTERNET.COM.BR (???) 2 1119746 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 944308 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 874772 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 874407 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 713354 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 610000 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (???) 8 410586 JAVA.SUN.COM (???) 9 407439 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 399733 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 11 380305 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 12 352974 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 322266 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 14 260635 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 256208 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.12) 16 238663 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36) 17 231091 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 18 223111 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 219175 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 212706 DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 656112 HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 462244 DIETCITY@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 423116 DIETCITY-AOL@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 378287 VALUE-MAIL@LISTS.EMAILDIRECT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 222464 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 184297 JAVASCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 178304 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 157365 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 155264 HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 149823 GARTNERGROUP_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 133264 BVTESTLIST@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 12 128248 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 13 126625 BVNEWSLETTER@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 14 124975 REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 123993 SECURITYUPDATE@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 116834 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 116776 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 109804 SUBSCRIBERS-JAVASCRIPTS-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 109271 SCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 99383 GOODIES-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
