![[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 5473576 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 2434044 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1869078 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 1469744 ACCEL.INTERFAC.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 822427 BART.VALOFFERS.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 652778 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 573322 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 551758 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 9 502328 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 427375 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 423802 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 391365 MAIL1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 5.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 382784 MAILER.INFORMIT.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 344676 ALPHA.MX10.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 319536 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 16 280399 LISTSERV.CAMPBELLKITCHEN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 268280 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 18 254445 JAGGEDMAIL.JAGGEDMIND.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 248301 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.22-6.2.2smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 245782 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7)
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 2427653 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 4 2108413 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1519659 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1411854 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1065695 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 9 1034117 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 838011 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 11 816413 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 12 733031 LISTSERV.UNITEDWAY.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 575446 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 558346 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 16 556103 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 17 503589 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 18 489112 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 473345 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 461722 LISTAS.STARMEDIA.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 15600 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 5753 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 3 5419 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.18-18.7.x) 4 5356 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 5 4499 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 6 4024 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 3952 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 8 3745 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 3695 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 10 3432 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 3378 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 12 3248 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.22-6.2.2smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 2977 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 14 2782 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 15 2526 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 16 2392 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4) 17 2276 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 2098 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp) 19 2082 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 20 1750 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (OSF/1 V4.0f)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1027919 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 643989 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 622255 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 560884 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 551784 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 6 547230 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 380623 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 8 329982 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 303482 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 10 288265 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.20pre11) 11 275761 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 256354 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.18) 13 252034 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.22-6.2.2smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 231742 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 15 226133 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 16 216895 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 17 212539 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.7 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 202762 MAIL.ABANET.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 200591 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 199138 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
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 153683 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 7 142542 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 124855 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 84803 TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 84395 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 14 83173 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 59244 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 17 58030 PLIMAIL@LISTSERV.PLI.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 51599 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 20 48224 GOURMET-ECLUB@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
