![[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 3715888 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 2060299 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1159714 MS0.OEN0.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 1128811 CHEWBACCA5.YESMAIL.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1082852 MS1.OEN1.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 882705 LISTSERV.ELOTTONET.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 859665 MAIL1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 5.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 657492 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 498764 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 409388 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 327615 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 315931 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 13 291535 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 276722 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.8) 15 235978 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 16 232927 MAILER.INFORMIT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 213646 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 18 203555 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.14) 19 194942 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 20 192051 LISTSERV.GMD.DE (???)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 5388398 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 4806135 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 3067161 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1986496 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1635925 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 7 1279360 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1065198 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 9 845437 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 10 728928 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 694789 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 12 557237 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 13 514462 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 473299 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 461722 LISTAS.STARMEDIA.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 457436 ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 414167 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 18 400494 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 19 392361 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 20 357745 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 14819 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 4577 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 3 3890 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 4 3433 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 5 3277 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 3231 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 7 2994 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 8 2951 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 2826 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 2456 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 2370 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 2248 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 2151 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 14 2092 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Solaris 2.7) 15 2025 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 16 1984 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 17 1958 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 1957 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 19 1905 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.3) 20 1808 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 833085 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 651378 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 505664 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 479242 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 431219 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 323515 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 315935 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 8 271795 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.8) 9 265133 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 10 246184 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 242108 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 234435 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.14) 13 221332 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 213275 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.20pre11) 15 191149 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 16 186843 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 177811 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.8) 18 172625 LISTS.MSTAR.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 172502 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 20 153972 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 428142 HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 424922 FOODTV@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 342591 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 282450 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 253558 SKIMAPS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 241519 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 197224 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.7) 10 195941 HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 160792 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 13 133847 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 127227 VULNTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 124852 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 116874 WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 116146 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 111227 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 111212 STREETLIFE2@LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 20 89497 STREAMING_MEDIA@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
