![[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 694065 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 562177 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 468797 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 458730 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 5 413607 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 6 392058 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 376521 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 8 359695 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 351603 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 10 347072 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 340832 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 292886 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 269674 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 14 268530 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 15 253539 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 244954 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 240770 LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 215737 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.ELsmp) 19 211930 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 201946 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.2.ELsmp)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3779194 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2201641 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 3 1953058 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 4 1229240 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1031723 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 985568 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 984999 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 953033 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 840864 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 11 839657 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 12 806732 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 13 776386 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 689608 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 16 681525 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 17 651557 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.2.ELsmp) 18 645790 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 19 613031 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 550113 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 46935 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 22466 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 20034 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 4 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 9939 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 6 8949 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 7 5859 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.2.ELsmp) 8 5808 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 9 5732 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 10 5342 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 4699 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 4487 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 13 4368 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 14 4261 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 15 4154 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 16 4123 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 3917 MARIST (VM/SP 1.0) 18 3799 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 3765 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 2865 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 676394 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 461799 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 3 402338 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 4 370240 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 5 366024 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 351749 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 7 348204 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 343958 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 339004 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 322724 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 271611 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 12 262333 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 13 251182 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 240770 LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 238859 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 211930 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 211419 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.ELsmp) 18 192254 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 19 188180 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.2.ELsmp) 20 187133 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 371596 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 122843 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 3 111485 SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 92897 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.5-7.252-smp) 5 81733 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 6 77636 FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 73667 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 8 67091 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 65259 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 10 63928 CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp) 11 55020 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.2.ELsmp) 12 52816 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 13 51745 ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 14 43816 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 15 42577 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 16 41484 QCIINT@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 36446 L-SMEALZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 18 34132 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 19 34021 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 20 31649 JAGNEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)