![[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 3587305 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 992051 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 746659 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (???) 4 670116 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 668060 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 510838 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 413335 MEMBERS.ALLADVANTAGE.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 405916 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 9 387023 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 10 381838 JAVA.SUN.COM (???) 11 376358 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 344838 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 317442 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 314369 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.12) 15 244840 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 228351 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 223263 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (???) 18 217836 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.7 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 211931 ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 209496 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 4325504 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 3946159 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 3067191 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2868839 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2020245 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1689570 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1333683 LISTSERV.OFFICEMAX.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 1305086 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 1008014 LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 882358 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 11 763634 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 629043 EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 13 610635 MM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 582534 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 355329 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 16 338251 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.2) 17 332346 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 18 280454 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 19 277698 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.7-1.15) 20 275932 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 14338 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 2 4993 LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 3292 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 4 2919 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 5 2516 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3) 6 2337 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 2115 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 2056 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 9 1812 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 1704 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.6) 11 1675 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 1452 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 13 1439 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 14 1438 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 1416 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 16 1393 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 1380 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 1339 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 1313 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 20 1264 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1169486 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 999938 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 875383 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 869103 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 744437 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (???) 6 667639 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 482597 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 8 428885 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 407559 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 10 400338 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 11 397606 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 394139 JAVA.SUN.COM (???) 13 386853 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.12) 14 285832 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 272737 LIST.NEWSHOTLINE.COM (???) 16 266782 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 17 260136 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36) 18 253316 ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 235636 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 221451 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 630808 HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 233582 JAVASCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 222480 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 178295 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 170822 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 163537 GARTNERGROUP_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 162804 HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 145689 GOODIES-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 134104 REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 133271 BVTESTLIST@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 11 132284 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 12 126636 BVNEWSLETTER@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 13 126163 SECURITYUPDATE@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 118242 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 117748 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 108622 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 108233 SUBSCRIBERS-JAVASCRIPTS-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 107711 SCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 88710 DEVELOPER-COM1@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 83683 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
