![[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 9369922 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 2798167 LSRV01.QUADPLEXIC.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1860187 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 643891 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 5 491653 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 424894 MAILER.INFORMIT.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 408259 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 378135 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 369557 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 344828 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 296485 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 293025 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 13 244879 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 240520 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 15 238527 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 16 229746 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 17 225624 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.20-28.7smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 222443 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.26) 19 221742 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 20 213576 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3388990 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 1182965 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 5 1166970 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1034117 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1033379 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 8 885456 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 836878 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 823654 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-20.8smp) 11 737304 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 12 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 627726 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 14 610538 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/ESA 2.3.0) 15 605158 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 16 552567 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 17 552334 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4) 18 543528 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 19 486287 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 473345 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 21499 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-20.8smp) 2 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 3 18138 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 17319 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 5 9433 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 6 7428 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4) 7 4884 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 8 4596 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 9 4456 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 4007 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.20-28.7smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 3954 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 12 3900 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 13 3771 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 14 3763 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 3628 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 16 3181 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 17 2628 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 2228 LISTS.VCU.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-5) 19 2218 LISTSERV.UNL.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-17.7.xsmp) 20 2200 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 821414 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 643929 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 3 463526 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 422202 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 5 405495 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 394592 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 306128 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.26) 8 272604 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 9 263789 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 10 263379 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 11 260804 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 236454 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 233666 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 14 224368 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.20-28.7smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 182239 LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 173447 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 170555 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 165800 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 19 157375 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 156328 SEGATE.SUNET.SE (Solaris 2.8)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 286320 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 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 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 160651 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 6 142542 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 124855 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 111227 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 80799 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 10 69003 CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-30.9smp) 11 67359 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 12 60621 CL-ANNOUNCE@LIST.MSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 60261 FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 14 57163 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 15 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 45269 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 17 44747 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 18 38407 ALUMNEWS@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 37877 CTWADVISORYBOARD-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 37664 L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)