![[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 543220 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 341999 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 3 335812 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 4 319900 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp) 5 312379 MAILSENDER2.ZOOMERANG.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 297913 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 7 275241 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 8 274846 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 9 245023 EMA3LSV01.CNN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 232299 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 11 217759 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 211359 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 13 200428 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 176009 SPECIALNEEDS.HOSTING.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 15 168688 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 16 164937 LIST.SENIORWEB.NL (Windows Server 2003) 17 164474 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 18 162278 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 19 162170 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 20 161586 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3577284 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2685608 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 3 2066969 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 4 1776467 LISTSERV.CMICH.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1661582 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 6 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 7 1019365 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp) 8 859019 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 9 853587 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 830743 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 805567 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.19.7-grsec2.1.10-vs2.2.0) 12 798725 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0) 13 770939 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.10.ELsmp) 14 754013 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp) 15 747909 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 16 736984 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 17 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 725732 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 19 714494 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 672255 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 70207 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 24894 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 19458 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 4 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 10363 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.10.ELsmp) 6 9725 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.19.7-grsec2.1.10-vs2.2.0) 7 8181 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 8 7834 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 9 6981 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp) 10 6315 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 11 5967 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 12 5339 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 13 5243 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 14 5061 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 15 4732 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 16 4691 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 17 4455 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp) 18 4119 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 19 4077 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 4042 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 327024 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 2 311274 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp) 3 297596 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 4 289833 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 5 276843 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 6 271069 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 7 233873 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server) 8 231747 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 9 209456 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 10 200428 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 170464 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 12 165401 LIST.SENIORWEB.NL (Windows Server 2003) 13 157091 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 14 156035 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 15 155022 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 16 152274 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Linux 2.4.27-2-686-smp) 17 151449 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 18 147696 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 19 147472 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 125546 LISTS.LDS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 296535 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 122840 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 3 120486 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18.8-0.3-default) 4 117968 SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 84542 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 6 80451 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 7 74040 E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 8 73903 ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 9 67079 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 66099 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 11 63341 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 12 60973 MEDPROS-L@DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 13 56481 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.19.7-grsec2.1.10-vs2.2.0) 14 53010 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 15 52811 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 16 49617 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp) 17 45535 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 18 45505 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 19 41895 SURFSPOT@NIC.SURFNET.NL (Windows Enterprise Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 41632 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)