![[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 832765 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 684004 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 572059 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 4 494807 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 5 432124 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 410142 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 369783 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 344121 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 269971 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 262789 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 11 259618 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 244060 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 230364 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 14 216966 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.26) 15 204420 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 190530 LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 178518 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 171968 LISTSERV.DFN.DE (OpenVMS V7.3-1) 19 170369 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 157677 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 4042133 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1946221 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-29.8.4smp) 4 1493362 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 5 1485841 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 7 1100592 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 8 1080449 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 9 1034117 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 1027396 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 11 988633 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 762234 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 13 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 712326 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 709821 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.26-grsec) 16 662915 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 17 617279 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 18 585838 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 542082 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 20 529455 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 24335 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-29.8.4smp) 2 21403 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 3 20967 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 8363 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.26-grsec) 6 6055 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 7 5531 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 8 5515 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 5014 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 10 4836 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 4484 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 4321 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 13 4118 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 14 4087 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 15 3521 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 16 3507 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 3080 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 18 2543 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 19 2399 LISTS.VCU.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-5) 20 2378 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (SunOS 5.8 (unix))
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 746262 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 572100 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 3 498916 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 4 383294 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 376249 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 329032 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 283527 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.26) 8 265864 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 9 243218 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 235088 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 228902 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 12 226314 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 190530 LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 175482 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 161951 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 154072 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 153924 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 146533 LIST.SENIORWEB.NL (Windows 2000 Server) 19 143704 SEGATE.SUNET.SE (Solaris 2.8) 20 136655 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 324236 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 128102 SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 8 124855 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 111227 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 72703 CL-ANNOUNCE@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.5-7.108-smp) 11 72272 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 12 69796 FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 13 67891 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 14 66275 CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-30.9smp) 15 59653 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 16 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 53330 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 18 50600 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 19 48339 CUNYMATTERS-ONLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 40297 ALUMNEWS@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)