![[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 907983 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 693533 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 556199 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 4 513661 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 458577 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 415884 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 386794 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 8 386043 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 353315 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 10 352801 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 338529 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-27.0.2.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 331688 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 285555 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 14 284912 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 264271 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 16 245593 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 235705 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 230199 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 212582 LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.8) 20 201617 EMA3LSV01.CNN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3705531 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2157791 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-29.8.8smp) 3 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 1545922 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1354284 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 6 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 7 1129998 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 8 1082882 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 9 1041240 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 10 1034117 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 928755 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 887352 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 747287 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 14 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 710303 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-27.0.2.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 692500 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 17 666513 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 18 664206 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 19 658341 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 20 649694 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 26629 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 24245 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-29.8.8smp) 3 21637 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 4 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 9870 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 6 8284 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 7 6212 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 8 5592 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 9 5290 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 10 5086 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 4708 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-27.0.2.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 4275 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 13 4261 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 14 4191 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 15 4065 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 16 3683 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 17 3589 MARIST (VM/SP 1.0) 18 3542 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 3306 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 2447 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (SunOS 5.8 (unix))
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 832650 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 556239 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 3 428192 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 402732 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 390126 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 6 371928 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 368651 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 8 353758 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 9 334003 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 321851 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-27.0.2.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 321613 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 12 267282 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 13 237564 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 234108 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 222381 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 191959 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 5.2 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 191460 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-27.7.xsmp) 18 180480 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 19 171792 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 20 161209 LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 340394 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 123442 SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 9 122844 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 10 111227 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 77786 CL-ANNOUNCE@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.5-7.147-smp) 12 74727 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 13 72757 FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 14 67459 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 15 65505 CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp) 16 61103 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 17 60583 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 18 58856 L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 19 56964 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 20 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)