![[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 5401649 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 5367852 ALASKA.VIRTUAL0.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 4155464 HAWAII.VIRTUAL3.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2622599 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2419026 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 2334707 LISTSERV.MYNASTY.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 2168594 BART.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1823812 ARIES.MTA0.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 1700691 CARL.VALOFFERS.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 1593729 VELA.MTA0.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 763114 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 751361 ALPHA.MX10.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 507159 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 499785 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 15 464319 JAGGEDMAIL.JAGGEDMIND.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 461048 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 455136 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 437085 EPLINGMAIL1.ZAPITNOW.NET (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 418423 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 412632 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 6445542 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 3067161 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 2641254 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2082319 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 5 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 2013746 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1703274 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1323525 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 9 1034155 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 987311 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 11 807586 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 12 785161 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 732838 LISTSERV.UNITEDWAY.ORG (Windows NT 4.0) 14 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 533540 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 16 530893 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 17 515748 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 18 475226 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 19 473467 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 473345 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 9459 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 5584 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 3 5009 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 4 4541 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 5 4105 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 6 3874 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 3806 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 8 3710 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 9 3658 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 3299 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 3231 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 12 3168 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.19-6.2.16smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 2821 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 14 2435 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 15 2318 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.9-31) 16 2308 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4) 17 2294 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 18 2230 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 2062 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp) 20 2053 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1044693 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 752230 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 566840 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 529152 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 499807 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 6 495114 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 457797 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 384389 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 9 363675 JISCMAIL.AC.UK (???) 10 346094 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 11 332342 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 12 312690 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.20pre11) 13 310575 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 293126 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.19-6.2.16smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 241199 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.18) 16 231864 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 17 216409 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 18 214722 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.8) 19 210074 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 20 208902 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.7 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 457477 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 282485 GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 222483 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 197224 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.7) 5 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 153947 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 7 142542 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 132672 VULNTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 124847 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 116874 WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 111227 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 106909 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 84803 TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 83153 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 65161 THEONLINEINVESTOR@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 58097 PLIMAIL@LISTSERV.PLI.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 57400 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 18 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 50266 GOURMET-ECLUB@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 49985 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8)
