![[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 4704465 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 3918620 ARIES.EMAIL3.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 2628392 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 1376270 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1006188 MAIL2.ROI1.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 735052 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 578386 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 546105 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 533320 MAIL1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 487943 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 11 423259 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 378784 CHEWBACCA5.YESMAIL.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 368135 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 337745 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 15 335439 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 16 314972 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.8) 17 307406 LISTSERV.CAMPBELLKITCHEN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 292316 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.19-6.2.16smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 263749 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.18) 20 231526 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.7 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 4852071 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 4548064 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + 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 1884080 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1445496 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 7 1034533 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 944495 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 9 863743 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 10 746721 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 11 690375 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 12 610055 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 13 542541 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 473345 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 470839 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 16 461722 LISTAS.STARMEDIA.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 452027 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 18 414167 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 19 414167 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 403430 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 10952 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 4380 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 3 4326 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 4 4314 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 5 3518 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 6 3513 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 3454 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 8 3292 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 3097 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 2911 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 2773 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.19-6.2.16smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 2502 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 13 2345 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Solaris 2.7) 14 2164 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 15 2126 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 16 2106 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 17 2051 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 2020 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 19 1988 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10) 20 1959 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (OSF/1 V4.0f)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1078334 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 729419 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 688930 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 564290 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 554391 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 487952 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 7 412875 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 380999 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 9 346626 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 309940 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.8) 11 309582 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 12 303108 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 300463 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.18) 14 295976 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.19-6.2.16smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 278579 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.20pre11) 16 253156 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.7 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 221045 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 18 217637 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 19 213172 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 20 204375 YORKU.CA (Solaris 2.7)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 424422 FOODTV@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 398358 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 282485 GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 258225 REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 253527 SKIMAPS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 222483 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 197224 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.7) 8 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 160011 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 10 141981 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 132654 VULNTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 124838 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 116874 WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 111227 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 108666 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 88920 STREAMING_MEDIA@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 86540 TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 83128 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 66178 THEONLINEINVESTOR@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
