![[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 597801 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 467291 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 436203 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 4 397067 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 356722 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 348801 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 7 342748 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-40.ELsmp) 8 315480 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 9 305065 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 304913 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 302945 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 12 279509 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 248842 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 14 241574 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 15 226105 EMAIL.EBGAMES.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 202577 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 197326 EMA3LSV01.CNN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 197163 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 193887 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 184902 LIST.NEWSHOTLINE.COM (Windows NT 4.0)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3825208 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2130278 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 3 1879456 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 4 1242932 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 985780 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 934071 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 893355 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 841826 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 10 804083 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-40.ELsmp) 11 769769 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 762709 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 13 755195 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 744401 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 15 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 701828 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 17 677622 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 18 650714 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.2.ELsmp) 19 621214 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 596911 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 54427 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 19510 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 18475 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp) 5 9940 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 6 8948 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 7 6267 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 8 5848 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 9 5453 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 5181 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.2.ELsmp) 11 4729 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 4517 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-40.ELsmp) 13 4452 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 14 4208 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 15 4139 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 4063 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 17 4036 MARIST (VM/SP 1.0) 18 3850 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 3776 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 2918 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 580062 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 439221 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 3 343642 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 4 332360 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-40.ELsmp) 5 317708 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 314384 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 310899 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 307790 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 306381 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 10 286849 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 243323 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 12 234309 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 13 200001 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 197163 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 177950 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 171670 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 160590 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 18 155759 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 19 155595 LISTS.LDS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 145684 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.ELsmp)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 373554 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 122843 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 3 111364 SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 97144 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.5-7.252-smp) 5 81925 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 6 76036 FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 74712 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 8 67806 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 66132 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 10 63850 CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp) 11 53374 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.2.ELsmp) 12 52815 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 13 51741 ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 14 47255 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 15 44879 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 16 38853 SURFSPOT@NIC.SURFNET.NL (Windows Enterprise Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 37070 DARTMOUTH-ALUMNI-TRAVEL@LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 36793 L-SMEALZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 19 36165 QCIINT@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 34746 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)