![[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 397519 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 2 345082 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 3 310942 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 307486 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 5 292082 XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-53.1.14.el5xen) 6 275987 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 7 259024 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 251242 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 9 240650 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 10 194985 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 187635 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 12 175969 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 13 162827 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 14 157647 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 15 156197 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 16 148796 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 17 141535 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 18 141207 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 19 131899 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 20 128962 LIST.SENIORWEB.NL (Windows Server 2003)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 2353732 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 2 2119618 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 1214466 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 4 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 1131834 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 6 1062277 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 7 929538 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 8 924062 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 9 904430 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 10 880782 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0) 11 799778 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 12 775815 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-67.ELsmp) 13 731087 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 14 701310 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 15 690808 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 16 674873 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.5-smp) 17 666078 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 18 649971 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 19 621177 LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 20 597136 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 20230 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 2 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 3 10871 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-67.ELsmp) 4 10627 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 5 9414 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 6 9348 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 7 6702 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 8 6612 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 9 6544 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 10 5388 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 11 5238 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 12 5174 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 13 5138 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 14 5085 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 15 5068 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.5-smp) 16 4462 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 17 4205 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 18 4116 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 4074 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 20 3656 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 382749 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 2 335092 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 3 298411 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 4 253734 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 248888 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 6 242990 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 7 236952 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 8 194985 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 186513 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 10 171091 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 11 155819 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 12 151049 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 13 144521 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 14 143441 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 15 138820 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 16 138658 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 17 129103 LIST.SENIORWEB.NL (Windows Server 2003) 18 129068 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 19 118323 LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 20 116782 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 127083 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18.8-0.9-default) 2 122840 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 3 98014 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 4 79011 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 5 78346 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 6 74032 E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 7 71968 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 8 66978 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 9 65038 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 10 60116 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 11 52805 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 12 47348 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 13 46473 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 14 46143 SURFSPOT@NIC.SURFNET.NL (Windows Enterprise Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 44538 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 16 40637 L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 17 37822 NOTICE-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 18 36929 EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 19 36769 DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 20 35379 CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)