![[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 585693 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 570331 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 424733 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 4 397427 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.8.ELsmp) 5 390241 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server) 6 383949 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 7 377765 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 361376 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 9 354459 MAILSENDER2.ZOOMERANG.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 301707 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 11 290447 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 12 254531 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 13 247938 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 14 244472 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 236859 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 16 225004 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 17 208700 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 18 205633 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 199486 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 20 191306 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 4236395 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2268853 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 3 2258571 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 4 1689139 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1009599 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 7 948289 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.8.ELsmp) 8 938857 LISTSERV.CMICH.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 936164 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 859806 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 11 819470 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 789400 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.17.13-grsec2.1.9-vs2.0.2.1) 13 780914 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 14 747892 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 15 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 722025 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.10.ELsmp) 17 721409 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 18 718868 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 19 714494 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 676247 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 59644 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 24765 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 20802 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 4 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 10164 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.10.ELsmp) 6 9848 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 7 9665 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.17.13-grsec2.1.9-vs2.0.2.1) 8 6610 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 9 6251 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 10 5915 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 11 5232 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 12 5071 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 13 4815 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.8.ELsmp) 14 4685 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 15 4608 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 16 4596 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 17 4105 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 18 4085 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 19 4035 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 3212 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 589270 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 445682 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 421175 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 4 388125 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.8.ELsmp) 5 365682 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 6 354639 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 7 344967 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server) 8 300696 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 9 285832 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 10 250848 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 11 249250 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 12 242030 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 229061 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 14 218202 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 15 205704 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 16 205633 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 191242 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 18 186306 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 19 177320 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 173848 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 378557 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 127753 SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 122840 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 4 112429 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.11.4-21.14-smp) 5 81955 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 6 79678 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 7 71743 E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 8 71586 ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 9 69620 L-ADMISSIONS-WIRE-A@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 10 67057 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 65078 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 12 58478 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 13 58444 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 14 55642 MEDPROS-L@DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 15 52810 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 16 50079 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 17 49566 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.17.13-grsec2.1.9-vs2.0.2.1) 18 44545 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 19 44383 L-SMEALZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 20 42877 SURFSPOT@NIC.SURFNET.NL (Windows Enterprise Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)