![[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 640791 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 624966 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 524051 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 5.2 Server) 4 426589 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server) 5 378773 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 6 377249 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 318152 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 316265 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 286324 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 10 274553 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 11 265047 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 12 259020 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 13 242530 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 14 231917 EMAIL.EBGAMES.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 208290 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 199128 EMA3LSV01.CNN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 190678 LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 179827 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 176793 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 20 168508 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 4000971 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2272354 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 3 1735814 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 4 1276634 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1095217 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1025116 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 989424 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 9 892690 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 822230 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 11 799313 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 12 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 706677 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 14 687075 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 15 658021 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.1.ELsmp) 16 649735 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 17 588773 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 18 546915 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 527354 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 20 501125 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 39627 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 23677 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 17451 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 8840 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 6 6279 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 7 6085 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 8 5617 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 9 5519 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 10 5184 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 4837 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.1.ELsmp) 12 4657 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 13 4247 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 14 4243 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 15 4134 MARIST (VM/SP 1.0) 16 4084 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 17 3934 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 3731 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 3685 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 2787 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 627493 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 524093 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 5.2 Server) 3 381552 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 4 375734 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server) 5 325194 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 302134 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 271781 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 8 268939 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 9 263592 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 10 261917 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 11 240580 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 235766 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 190678 LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 177229 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 170532 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 16 163002 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 150629 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 148258 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 133453 LIST.SENIORWEB.NL (Windows 2000 Server) 20 131954 LISTS.LDS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 366656 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 2 122843 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 3 119406 SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 4 87183 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.5-7.201-smp) 5 80213 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 6 77003 FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 7 70294 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 8 65016 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 9 64511 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 10 64315 CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp) 11 55106 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.1.ELsmp) 12 52817 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 13 49797 ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 14 42465 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 15 41066 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 16 35559 L-SMEALZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 17 34700 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 18 34146 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 19 33868 MOBCOMNEWSLETTER-L@DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 20 31291 TESL-L@CUNYVM (VM/SP 4.0)