![[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 827164 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 689341 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 518192 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 5.2 Server) 4 464783 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 456790 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 456472 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 429876 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 8 417284 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 363479 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 345343 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp) 11 286756 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 12 258328 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 13 250457 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 14 198197 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 193620 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-27.7.xsmp) 16 192242 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 17 187305 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 185507 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 185082 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 173279 LIST.VENTUREWIRE.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3842444 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2544866 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp) 3 1387670 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 4 1225587 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1169981 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 7 1083991 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 8 1034117 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 960181 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 10 944230 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 889135 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 792821 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 767761 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp) 14 746176 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 15 740467 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 16 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 641805 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-11.ELsmp) 18 640470 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 613769 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 20 603940 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 29878 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 26658 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp) 3 25836 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 10193 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 6 8427 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 7 6483 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 8 5352 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 9 5338 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 10 5250 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-11.ELsmp) 11 4869 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 12 4843 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 13 4400 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 14 4111 MARIST (VM/SP 1.0) 15 4032 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp) 16 3885 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 17 3641 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 3595 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 3526 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 2592 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 749970 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 518235 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 5.2 Server) 3 433301 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 4 424771 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 401344 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 348951 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 327186 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp) 8 285944 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 9 261428 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 10 257236 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 11 244383 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 12 222437 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 190270 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-27.7.xsmp) 14 183175 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 180831 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 168939 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 159449 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 150572 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 19 149332 LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 140392 LIST.SENIORWEB.NL (Windows 2000 Server)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 355012 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 2 282485 GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 132545 SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 4 124855 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 122843 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 6 80964 CL-ANNOUNCE@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.5-7.151-smp) 7 77220 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 8 75061 FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 9 64788 CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp) 10 63344 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 11 61914 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 12 59407 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 13 58832 L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 14 57022 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-11.ELsmp) 15 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 52818 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 17 45914 QCIINT@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 40952 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 19 40943 ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 20 40348 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec)