![[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 9781561 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 3093863 LSRV01.QUADPLEXIC.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1907598 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 568283 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 5 523320 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 433433 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 388905 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 379615 MAILER.INFORMIT.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 357091 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 356659 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 11 355355 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 349417 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 251803 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 251335 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.20-28.7smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 250706 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 16 229137 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 17 216595 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 18 211674 LISTSERV.DFN.DE (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1a) 19 211017 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 20 210818 LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3762759 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 1200722 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 5 1178719 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1042909 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 7 1034117 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 963735 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 930516 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 819233 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-20.8smp) 11 747290 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 12 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 633036 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 14 618938 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/ESA 2.3.0) 15 587653 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 16 577635 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 17 559444 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4) 18 544965 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 19 500143 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 20 495590 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 21726 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-20.8smp) 2 19406 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 17792 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 5 9439 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 6 7553 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4) 7 4949 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 8 4605 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 9 4466 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 3965 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 11 3911 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.20-28.7smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 3901 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 13 3814 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 14 3801 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 15 3771 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 16 3206 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 17 2582 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 2316 LISTSERV.UNL.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-17.7.xsmp) 19 2244 LISTS.VCU.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-5) 20 2185 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 841993 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 568317 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 3 513378 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 4 447902 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 417039 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 380331 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 289228 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.26) 8 285338 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 9 257387 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 10 250762 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.20-28.7smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 243084 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 233912 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 232486 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 14 210818 LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 201513 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 16 195102 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 157099 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 148795 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 146962 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 146059 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.25)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 292065 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 80745 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 10 68416 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 11 68415 CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-30.9smp) 12 62128 CL-ANNOUNCE@LIST.MSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 61922 FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 14 57675 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 15 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 46319 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 17 45551 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 18 38696 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 37663 L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)