![[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 563046 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 344472 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 3 323260 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 4 224444 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 5 215264 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Linux 2.4.27-2-686-smp) 6 172665 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 137721 LISTS.ASU.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 8 108764 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 9 89420 LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 10 82932 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 11 61775 LISTS.MCGILL.CA (Windows Server 2003) 12 57803 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 13 55085 ITSSRV1.UCSF.EDU (AIX 5.3) 14 50938 LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.9) 15 45067 LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 16 37292 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.17.13-grsec2.1.9-vs2.0.2.1) 17 35919 LISTSERV.UOGUELPH.CA (Solaris 2.9) 18 33553 LISTSERV.UNB.CA (Linux 2.4.21-47.ELsmp) 19 32449 LISTSERV.HAMILTON.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 20 32083 JTSA.EDU (OpenVMS V7.3-2)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3960243 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2247446 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 3 1971889 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-47.ELsmp) 4 1571353 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 992007 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 7 942800 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.3.ELsmp) 8 917297 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 849573 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 10 802812 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 773604 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.17.13-grsec2.1.9-vs2.0.2.1) 12 769747 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 13 749704 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 14 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 714494 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 705413 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 17 697803 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 18 622231 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 614501 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 20 604052 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 56170 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 24457 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 17481 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-47.ELsmp) 5 9635 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 6 9564 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.17.13-grsec2.1.9-vs2.0.2.1) 7 6617 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 8 6403 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 9 6080 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 10 5794 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 11 5171 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 12 5110 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 13 4936 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 14 4689 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.3.ELsmp) 15 4506 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 16 4506 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 17 4078 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 18 4049 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 3985 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 3132 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 566860 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 337671 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 3 317811 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 4 226913 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 5 215434 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Linux 2.4.27-2-686-smp) 6 179538 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 122806 LISTS.ASU.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 8 109385 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 9 79913 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 10 60521 LISTS.MCGILL.CA (Windows Server 2003) 11 55917 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 12 53959 ITSSRV1.UCSF.EDU (AIX 5.3) 13 51109 LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.9) 14 45134 LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 15 38780 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.17.13-grsec2.1.9-vs2.0.2.1) 16 36741 MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp) 17 36004 LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 18 34468 LISTSERV.UOGUELPH.CA (Solaris 2.9) 19 32454 LISTSERV.HAMILTON.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 20 31349 LISTSERV.UNB.CA (Linux 2.4.21-47.ELsmp)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 378174 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 139988 SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 122840 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 4 109005 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.11.4-21.14-smp) 5 81188 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 6 79517 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 7 69834 L-ADMISSIONS-WIRE-A@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 8 68802 ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 9 68793 E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 10 67047 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 64920 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 12 63127 CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp) 13 54867 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 14 52907 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 15 52810 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 16 48674 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.17.13-grsec2.1.9-vs2.0.2.1) 17 48196 MEDPROS-L@DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 18 46131 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 19 44096 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 20 43156 L-SMEALZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)