![[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 6101488 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 3535406 ACCEL.INTERFAC.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 2605588 LISTSERV.BIGTIMEVALUES.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2195161 BART.VALOFFERS.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1982844 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1690674 MAILDELIVERY.GRRLSPOT.COM (Windows XP Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1681873 LISTSERV.MYNASTY.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1562192 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 824950 CARL.VALOFFERS.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 633006 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 602622 ALPHA.MX10.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 470750 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 452642 CNNIMAIL23.CNN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 443710 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 15 421202 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 395911 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 370645 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 337740 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 288027 LISTSERV.CAMPBELLKITCHEN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 247811 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
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 2419744 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 4 2289909 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1659666 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1575745 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1034116 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 826006 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 10 766020 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 732885 LISTSERV.UNITEDWAY.ORG (Windows NT 4.0) 12 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 712321 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 14 585199 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 558030 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 16 531905 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 17 489112 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 473345 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 461722 LISTAS.STARMEDIA.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 453957 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 15370 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 5734 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 3 5192 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.18-18.7.x) 4 5035 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 5 4730 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 6 4161 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 7 3937 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 3805 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 3766 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 10 3344 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 3303 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 12 3161 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.22-6.2.2smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 2901 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 14 2871 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 2482 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 16 2358 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4) 17 2177 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 2082 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp) 19 2077 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 20 1740 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 653023 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 623993 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 485332 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 475889 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 457658 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 443729 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 7 343098 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 8 339646 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 259561 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 244357 LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 233164 WALLACE.POGO.COM (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 224487 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 13 221909 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.18) 14 220873 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.20pre11) 15 205609 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.22-6.2.2smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 202940 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 17 161630 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 156148 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 156006 LIST.NIH.GOV (SunOS 5.6) 20 153949 LIST.SENIORWEB.NL (Windows NT 4.0)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 472934 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 152193 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 7 142542 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 124854 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 116874 WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 111227 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 106909 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 92348 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 84803 TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 83165 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 58704 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 17 58091 PLIMAIL@LISTSERV.PLI.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 50953 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 20 49001 GOURMET-ECLUB@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
