![[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 1499967 LSRV01.PRETNEUCK.COM (Windows NT 5.2 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 831558 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 755218 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 479825 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 440830 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 439231 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 7 436720 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 5.2 Server) 8 401273 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 399503 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 362544 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 316442 LIST.VENTUREWIRE.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 292107 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 285599 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 14 272514 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 15 245990 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 16 245629 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 17 241969 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 212214 LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.8) 19 207704 LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 191961 EMA3LSV01.CNN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3776461 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2077474 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp) 3 1692285 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 4 1275647 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1083991 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 7 1059775 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 8 1058470 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 1034117 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 941805 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 940828 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 720782 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 719294 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 696710 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 16 675067 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 17 619271 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 18 586314 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 19 563850 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 20 554975 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 37081 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 22570 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp) 3 22042 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 9930 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 6 8292 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 7 6459 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 8 5319 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 9 4828 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 4805 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 11 4729 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 4396 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 13 4304 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 14 4067 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 15 3954 MARIST (VM/SP 1.0) 16 3773 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 17 3519 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 3479 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 3476 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 2527 LISTS.VCU.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-5)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 752355 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 442835 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 3 436757 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 5.2 Server) 4 426053 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 408994 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 346219 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 330160 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 8 288997 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 9 277240 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 272821 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 11 239764 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 12 234734 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 209789 LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 184149 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 167053 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 157602 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 154512 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 141522 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 130894 LIST.CINECA.IT (SunOS 5.7) 20 123859 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 348949 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 2 282485 GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 160651 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 4 142542 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 125977 SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 6 124855 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 122843 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 8 111227 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 80973 CL-ANNOUNCE@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.5-7.151-smp) 10 76451 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 11 74102 FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 12 65049 CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp) 13 62473 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 14 60197 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 15 58834 L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 16 58186 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 17 57136 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 18 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 52822 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 20 40547 ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.8)