![[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 444730 MAESTRO3.AZCENTRAL.COM (Linux 2.6.9-78.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 405513 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 3 393518 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 384114 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 5 349031 XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-53.1.14.el5xen) 6 317989 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 315067 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 8 249893 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 9 238073 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 10 233618 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 11 219622 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 12 183100 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 13 179081 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 14 177657 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 15 177148 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 16 170581 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 17 167563 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 18 165396 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 140480 LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 20 138709 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 2703973 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 2 2206802 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 1240477 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 4 1220694 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1152554 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 7 938596 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 8 938106 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 9 936675 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 10 919590 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0) 11 825193 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-67.ELsmp) 12 757887 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 13 741284 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 14 707287 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 15 703228 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 16 701388 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 17 690816 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp) 18 687394 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 19 658696 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 20 626040 LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 24249 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 2 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 3 17701 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 4 10893 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-67.ELsmp) 5 10669 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 6 9131 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 7 8823 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 8 6621 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 9 6614 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 10 5435 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 11 5260 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 12 5250 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 13 5180 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 14 5110 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp) 15 4696 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 16 4536 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 17 4532 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 18 4230 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 19 4152 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 3662 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 391140 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 2 369666 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 3 311516 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 4 310195 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 237019 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 226632 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 7 219865 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 8 216045 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 9 180743 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 10 171248 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 11 169880 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 12 169846 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 13 167795 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 14 166939 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 15 159547 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 16 131462 LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 17 124336 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 18 123635 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 19 121869 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 20 120484 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
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 99120 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 4 80975 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 5 78087 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 6 74034 E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 7 72164 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 8 68472 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 9 64702 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 10 61876 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 11 52805 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 12 47533 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 13 46469 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 14 46145 SURFSPOT@NIC.SURFNET.NL (Windows Enterprise Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 44398 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 16 36920 EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 17 36759 DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 18 35319 CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 19 35305 CUNYMATTERS-ONLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 34617 TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2003)