![[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 3739233 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 2639126 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1579122 MS1.OEN1.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 968893 MAIL1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 5.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 676601 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 607820 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 565253 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 499645 CHEWBACCA5.YESMAIL.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 444282 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 358886 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 11 331689 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 328144 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 319992 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.8) 14 308856 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 15 267948 MAILER.INFORMIT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 256519 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 17 243617 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 235363 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.20pre11) 19 231757 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.14) 20 216246 DISCUSS.DEVELOP.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 5197636 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 4794872 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 1973861 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1695459 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 7 1085288 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 8 1037564 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 1007664 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 10 735291 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 708532 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 12 562495 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 13 523187 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 473322 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 461722 LISTAS.STARMEDIA.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 455340 ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 452731 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 18 421869 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 19 414167 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 20 375225 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 15062 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 4378 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 3 4292 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 4 3896 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 5 3367 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 6 3358 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 3312 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 8 3139 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 3040 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 2738 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 2586 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 2442 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 13 2255 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Solaris 2.7) 14 2170 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 15 2049 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 16 2033 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 17 2010 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 18 1973 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 1954 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.3) 20 1857 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (OSF/1 V4.0f)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1078313 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 710304 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 669148 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 583429 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 569904 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 368789 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 358892 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 8 350918 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 9 335592 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 314925 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.8) 11 311555 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 295133 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 13 269685 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.20pre11) 14 266388 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.14) 15 251248 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 16 233071 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 17 221120 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 219210 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 214119 DISCUSS.DEVELOP.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server) 20 207020 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.7 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 428437 HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 424393 FOODTV@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 359818 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 282463 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 222483 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 197749 HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 197224 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.7) 10 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 160643 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 12 136283 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 127231 VULNTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 124855 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 116874 WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 114518 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 112414 STREETLIFE2@LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 18 111227 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 89500 STREAMING_MEDIA@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 88514 TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
