![[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 5096387 CHEWBACCA5.YESMAIL.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 3098074 LIST.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 2520198 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2162519 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1262905 EWAOL.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1242532 MAILSVRSQL.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1114071 LISTSERV.ELOTTONET.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1100319 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 1014678 EWMAIL2.DM360.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 928620 LISTSERV.NETWORKPROMOTION.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 799182 MAIL1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 5.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 782224 SUCCESS.DIETSMART.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 561417 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 396237 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 381051 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 375467 MS0.OEN0.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 353326 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 18 345082 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6) 19 336637 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 20 316221 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 5743657 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 4858166 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows 2000 Server) 3 4671982 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 3067161 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2034070 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1567118 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 8 1269099 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 918448 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 10 771964 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 11 646432 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 12 628241 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 13 533229 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 14 487066 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 474311 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 16 473209 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 461723 LISTAS.STARMEDIA.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 455131 ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 381504 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 20 326552 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 8596 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 4505 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 3 4399 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 4 3810 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 5 3265 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 6 3141 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 3106 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 8 2935 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 9 2845 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 2537 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 2324 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 2215 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 13 2071 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 14 1999 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Solaris 2.7) 15 1964 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 16 1959 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 17 1901 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 18 1874 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 1826 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 1825 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.3)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 3098076 LIST.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 1096854 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 934953 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 776866 SUCCESS.DIETSMART.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 535138 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 520837 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 476636 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 403034 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 9 349380 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 10 339958 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6) 11 336094 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 316221 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 301163 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.16) 14 293248 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 15 267807 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 264220 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 17 261665 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 18 233285 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.2.16) 19 205605 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.8) 20 191321 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 426970 HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 314597 FOODTV@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 305119 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 282332 GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 258250 REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 256064 SKIMAPS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 222483 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 216443 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 200754 HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 193016 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.7) 11 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 176898 THE-SCIENTIST-L@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 161902 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 14 128373 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 127209 VULNTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 124832 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 120098 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 116874 WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 113237 MONEYDAILY@LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 20 111227 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
