![[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 5574668 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 2576535 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 2270579 ACCEL.INTERFAC.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 1538972 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1328041 ALPHA.MX10.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 975281 BART.HOTTESTVALUES.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 817074 BART.VALOFFERS.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 636393 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 626875 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 501752 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 11 500035 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 436088 MAILER.INFORMIT.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 426727 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 422108 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 357456 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 16 353461 MAILER01.JEWELCLAIMCENTER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 346832 JAGGEDMAIL.JAGGEDMIND.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 336392 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 19 325184 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 20 293342 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + 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 2358806 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 4 2048262 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1530651 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1099658 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1034117 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 1010292 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 10 849138 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 11 821156 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 12 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 622776 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 14 588935 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 586161 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 16 556844 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 17 514515 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 464539 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 9559 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 9270 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 3 5625 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.18-18.7.x) 4 5381 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 5 4697 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 6 4101 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 4029 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 8 3862 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 3809 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 3747 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 11 3482 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 3425 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 13 3351 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 3049 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 15 2578 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 16 2415 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4) 17 2301 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 2098 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp) 19 2078 LISTSERV.UNL.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-17.7.xsmp) 20 1803 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (OSF/1 V4.0f)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1084086 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 627429 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 613026 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 608801 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 545125 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 520931 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 7 380297 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 8 380155 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 9 367193 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 347820 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.20pre11) 11 329353 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 307752 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 13 298024 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 280040 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.18) 15 248262 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 16 237031 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 231287 MAIL.ABANET.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 226925 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 215286 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 214030 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.8)
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 245061 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 4 222483 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 156152 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 84978 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 84803 TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 83178 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 60124 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 17 58024 PLIMAIL@LISTSERV.PLI.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 52095 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 20 47689 GOURMET-ECLUB@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
