![[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 7740040 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 1876543 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1065605 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 547419 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 5 480789 MAILER.INFORMIT.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 469227 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 404916 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 358094 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 333547 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 295097 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 11 290664 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 283848 WALLACE.POGO.COM (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 253042 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 14 223092 LISTSERV.CAMPBELLKITCHEN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 219444 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 218326 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 17 205947 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 18 204596 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.8) 19 186430 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.21) 20 179323 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3067161 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 3034431 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 3 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 1739479 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1517746 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 7 1034117 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1010864 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 9 980227 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 10 945489 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 704492 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 692590 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 14 606156 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 542219 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 16 537691 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/ESA 2.3.0) 17 530103 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 18 498352 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4) 19 494699 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 20 489112 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 2 13450 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 3 13393 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-20.8smp) 4 11153 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 6997 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4) 6 6281 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 7 5699 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 8 4592 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 4358 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 10 4234 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 3989 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 12 3749 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 13 3721 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 3618 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 15 3544 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 16 3011 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 17 2901 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 2541 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 2203 LISTSERV.UNL.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-17.7.xsmp) 20 2098 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 787587 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 547452 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 3 467550 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 452949 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 435116 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 6 399807 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 283848 WALLACE.POGO.COM (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 259738 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 9 257935 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 240850 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.21) 11 235677 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.8) 12 227394 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 13 222615 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 215635 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 174855 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 16 170785 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 165825 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 154570 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 150391 LIST.SENIORWEB.NL (Windows 2000 Server) 20 150378 LISTSERV.ENET.COM.CN (SunOS 5.7)
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 272051 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 160651 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 83229 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 77713 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 64539 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 14 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 55424 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 16 51649 FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 17 48181 CL-ANNOUNCE@LIST.MSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 18 43990 GOURMET-ECLUB@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 40503 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 20 39721 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
