![[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 4852012 CHEWBACCA5.YESMAIL.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 3579162 LIST.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 2986343 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2606676 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1736608 MAILSVRSQL.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1717476 EWAOL.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1466832 EWMAIL2.DM360.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1303141 SUCCESS.DIETSMART.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 1226518 LISTSERV.NETWORKPROMOTION.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 1208154 MS0.OEN0.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 1164085 LISTSERV.ELOTTONET.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 898032 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 873495 MAIL1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 5.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 539442 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 511672 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 369748 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.8) 17 361672 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 18 361453 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 338223 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 20 335392 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 5575413 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 4926472 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 4858166 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows 2000 Server) 4 3067161 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2025541 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 1534907 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 8 1285135 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 1045129 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 10 923507 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 11 673807 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 12 670698 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 13 552919 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 14 512976 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 495491 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 473224 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 461722 LISTAS.STARMEDIA.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 455155 ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 414167 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 20 398025 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 8639 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 4609 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 3 4422 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 4 3857 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 5 3363 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 6 3180 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 3137 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 8 3031 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 9 2901 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 2614 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 2429 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 2303 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 13 2117 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 14 2036 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 15 2027 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Solaris 2.7) 16 1990 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 17 1938 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 18 1912 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 1853 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.3) 20 1756 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 3579165 LIST.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 1281687 SUCCESS.DIETSMART.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 967269 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 894379 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 638841 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 516224 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 477108 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 383426 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 9 382000 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 10 364638 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.8) 11 361505 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 12 352431 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 344963 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 14 339665 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.16) 15 330326 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 279491 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 265024 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.2.16) 18 246898 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 19 240124 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.8) 20 238828 LISTS.MSTAR.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 453179 FOODTV@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 427372 HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 319394 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 282390 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 253562 SKIMAPS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 232472 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 222483 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 198267 HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 197224 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.7) 11 189177 THE-SCIENTIST-L@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 161753 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 14 130782 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 127216 VULNTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 124844 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 118571 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 111227 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 110238 STREETLIFE2@LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
