![[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 3999373 SMTP1.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 2988232 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 777746 LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 773097 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7) 5 772329 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 624671 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 606672 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6) 8 533867 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 479875 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 461515 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 404290 MAIL1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 398140 LISTS.SMARTPORTFOLIO.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 351345 EMAIL.SUPERMARKETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 298669 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 293860 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 16 288658 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 17 274343 MEMBERS.ALLADVANTAGE.COM (Windows NT 5.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 251441 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 244270 LISTSERVER.DIGITALRIVER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 239508 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.14)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 4925505 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 3960854 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 3468589 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 3067169 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1719307 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1503368 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1461140 LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 1184753 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 10 482942 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 11 435028 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 434871 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 348123 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 14 315274 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.7-1.15) 15 296479 SMULTRON.EASE.ALGONET.SE (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 291700 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 17 256279 EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 18 245071 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 19 236675 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 20 201515 MM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 5192 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 2 2851 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 3 2847 LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2690 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3) 5 2532 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 6 2413 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 2365 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.6) 8 2169 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 1898 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 1745 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 11 1526 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 12 1509 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 13 1491 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 14 1480 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 1448 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 1428 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 17 1399 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 18 1397 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 1370 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Solaris 2.6) 20 1334 HERMES.CIRC.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 923402 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 805397 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 777746 LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 773873 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 770133 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7) 6 698075 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 621751 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 602684 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6) 9 557419 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 398140 LISTS.SMARTPORTFOLIO.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 348215 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 342235 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 13 311769 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 14 306657 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 15 295678 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.14) 16 262554 ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 231922 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36) 18 220384 DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 19 219063 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 203973 LISTSERVER.DIGITALRIVER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 573428 HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 222483 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 221080 HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 210253 REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 208366 GOODIES-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 208180 GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 205613 JAVASCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 148428 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 10 145617 SUBSCRIBERS-JAVASCRIPTS-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 144426 SCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 128159 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 127652 SECURITYUPDATE@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 125544 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 122596 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 121027 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 120139 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 105357 WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 94970 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 93045 FOODTV@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
