![[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 5434427 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 2224958 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1667549 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 715689 BART.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 681846 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 582492 RLY1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 5.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 530633 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 8 481571 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 471071 MAILER01.JEWELCLAIMCENTER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 469355 MAILER.INFORMIT.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 424619 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 424495 LISTSERV.SLINGO.COM (Linux 2.4.18-3) 13 376820 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 330789 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 15 326202 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 297672 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 266627 MAIL.ABANET.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 261633 JAGGEDMAIL.JAGGEDMIND.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 254053 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 20 247113 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 2618067 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 4 2574211 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1456049 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1102596 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1034117 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 891631 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 10 838832 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 685775 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 13 663802 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 14 584117 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 575570 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 16 546876 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 17 489694 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 18 489112 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 474100 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 20 473345 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 11594 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 2 9353 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 3 5454 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 4 5028 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 5 4954 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-13.8smp) 6 4333 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 4198 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 8 4034 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 3837 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 10 3607 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 3503 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 12 3453 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 3403 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 14 3213 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 15 2653 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 16 2454 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4) 17 2285 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 2098 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp) 19 2095 LISTSERV.UNL.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-17.7.xsmp) 20 1860 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (OSF/1 V4.0f)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 971851 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 673266 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 530658 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 4 518362 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 476221 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 469599 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 424495 LISTSERV.SLINGO.COM (Linux 2.4.18-3) 8 358195 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 9 310026 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 10 285387 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 11 277679 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.20) 12 264847 MAIL.ABANET.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 258635 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 257216 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 239428 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 233244 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 228801 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 18 215656 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.20) 19 212028 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.8) 20 207983 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0)
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 253493 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 160395 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 83199 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 80283 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 65161 THEONLINEINVESTOR@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 62632 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 17 58007 PLIMAIL@LISTSERV.PLI.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 54244 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 20 46346 GOURMET-ECLUB@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
