![[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 899945 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 564795 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 3 548487 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 532271 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 5 525980 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 443452 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 398979 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 392185 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 337362 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 317690 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 302700 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 12 302057 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 13 289470 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 270312 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.26) 15 269916 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 241583 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 212787 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 196843 SEGATE.SUNET.SE (Solaris 2.8) 19 193929 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-27.7.xsmp) 20 190666 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 4018719 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1803689 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-29.8.4smp) 4 1310691 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1180098 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1079829 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 8 1052981 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 1034117 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 986368 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 883115 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 12 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 721815 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 14 700661 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.26-grsec) 15 692867 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 16 662175 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 17 614537 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 18 587535 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 581235 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 20 532845 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 20684 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 20509 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-29.8.4smp) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 18057 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 5 8308 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.26-grsec) 6 6028 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 7 5458 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 8 5054 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 4997 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 10 4777 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 4488 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 4278 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 13 4106 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 14 4064 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 15 3493 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 16 3487 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 2936 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 18 2541 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 19 2357 LISTS.VCU.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-5) 20 2352 POST.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.8)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 794066 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 564834 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 3 537103 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 4 449821 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 383712 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 351913 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.26) 7 343675 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 325796 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 314014 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 306245 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 11 302891 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 12 301356 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 232549 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 210744 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 208195 SEGATE.SUNET.SE (Solaris 2.8) 16 193519 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-27.7.xsmp) 17 186278 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 171217 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 170114 LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 163934 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 319105 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 71662 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 10 70844 CL-ANNOUNCE@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.5-7.108-smp) 11 68060 FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 12 67898 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 13 66500 CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-30.9smp) 14 59299 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 15 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 52558 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 17 49944 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 18 40298 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 37210 L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)