![[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 3488880 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 3449809 LIST.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 3358293 CHEWBACCA5.YESMAIL.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2437492 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1819734 EWAOL.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1404766 MAILSVRSQL.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1165084 LISTSERV.ELOTTONET.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1023770 SUCCESS.DIETSMART.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 897693 MAIL1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 5.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 853200 MS0.OEN0.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 798967 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 729182 EWMAIL2.DM360.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 566522 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 554649 MYLISTMAILING.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 509400 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 385563 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 351514 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 18 338265 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 335626 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.8) 20 314189 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 5522895 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 4904328 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 2177188 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 1498749 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 8 1281614 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 1055964 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 10 939571 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 11 688420 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 12 685142 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 13 556325 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 14 514143 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 499149 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 473273 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 461722 LISTAS.STARMEDIA.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 456697 ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 414167 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 20 386743 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 8706 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 4682 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 3 4527 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 4 3878 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 5 3402 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 6 3248 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 3186 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 8 3097 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 9 2938 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 2641 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 2449 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 2341 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 13 2136 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 14 2073 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 15 2070 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Solaris 2.7) 16 2018 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 17 1932 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 1930 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 19 1890 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.3) 20 1785 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 3449811 LIST.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 1022246 SUCCESS.DIETSMART.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 892383 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 796367 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 635162 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 554693 MYLISTMAILING.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 547000 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 509421 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 410845 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 10 349736 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 348186 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 12 346578 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 330693 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.8) 14 323586 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 15 314299 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.16) 16 314194 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 17 291242 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 18 274851 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.2.16) 19 262394 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 216494 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 442797 FOODTV@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 427757 HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 334035 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 282429 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 253559 SKIMAPS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 243597 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 203965 THE-SCIENTIST-L@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 197224 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.7) 11 193716 HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 161113 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 14 132601 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 127221 VULNTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 124848 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 117408 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 110045 STREETLIFE2@LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
