![[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 937385 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 871695 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 581229 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 4 492574 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 441156 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 411861 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 404835 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 381858 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 9 381321 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 378401 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-27.0.2.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 364586 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 12 338561 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 307795 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 295827 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.26) 15 264994 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 16 262072 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 244623 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 235788 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 234759 LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.8) 20 218187 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 5.2 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3584148 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1981203 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-29.8.8smp) 4 1593315 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1313104 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 6 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 7 1097731 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 8 1082150 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 9 1034117 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 1032865 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 11 914020 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 885392 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 773850 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 14 743974 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 660828 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 17 627734 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 18 622325 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 602342 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 20 598490 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 26582 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 22650 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-29.8.8smp) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 19009 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 5 9673 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 6 8248 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 7 6151 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 8 5502 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 9 5217 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 10 5025 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 4649 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-27.0.2.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 4245 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 13 4239 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 14 4170 MARIST (VM/SP 1.0) 15 4160 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 16 4063 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 17 3648 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 18 3517 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 3237 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 2431 LISTS.VCU.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-5)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 845862 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 581271 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 3 432063 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 424314 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 390725 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.26) 6 387476 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 385099 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 8 371009 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 367666 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 10 360373 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-27.0.2.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 360305 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 268113 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 13 259691 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 236396 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 228919 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 214383 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 5.2 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 209839 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-27.7.xsmp) 18 199113 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 19 186945 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 181265 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 335854 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 123375 SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 9 111227 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 75992 CL-ANNOUNCE@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.5-7.111.30-smp) 11 73330 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 12 71263 FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 13 67765 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 14 65760 CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp) 15 60744 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 16 60148 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 17 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 55643 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 19 52293 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 20 37877 CTWADVISORYBOARD-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)