![[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 686033 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 566364 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 425409 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 422944 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 5 420167 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 6 396478 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 7 384368 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 362480 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 354061 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 352778 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 11 349967 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 308531 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 294483 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 14 267290 LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 263035 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 16 258820 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 253673 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 226402 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.2.ELsmp) 19 208194 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 20 205634 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-27.7.xsmp)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3767942 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2177366 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 3 1772976 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 4 1206128 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1021397 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 991047 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 980379 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 942154 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 850780 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 11 818234 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 12 790894 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 13 778692 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 679668 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.2.ELsmp) 16 666018 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 17 656209 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 18 609651 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 604719 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 575506 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 42721 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 22427 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 19990 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 4 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 8852 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 6 8037 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 7 6906 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 8 5760 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.2.ELsmp) 9 5742 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 10 5257 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 4697 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 4413 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 13 4365 MARIST (VM/SP 1.0) 14 4304 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 15 4259 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 16 4099 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 17 4082 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 3775 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 3754 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 2845 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 664948 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 426025 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 3 401442 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 4 389756 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 5 375589 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 363349 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 361824 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 355355 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 353082 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 10 331401 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 287146 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 12 267290 LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 266110 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 14 252777 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 251185 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 215516 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.2.ELsmp) 17 205261 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 18 201014 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-27.7.xsmp) 19 188294 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 178920 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 370049 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 122843 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 3 119848 SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 90458 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.5-7.202.7-smp) 5 80949 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 6 78132 FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 71563 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 8 66027 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 65820 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 10 64042 CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp) 11 55049 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.2.ELsmp) 12 52817 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 13 51019 ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 14 43369 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 15 42068 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 16 35966 L-SMEALZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 17 34136 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 18 34022 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 19 31696 JAGNEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 31350 TESL-L@CUNYVM (VM/SP 4.0)