![[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 611404 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 482962 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 3 438900 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 429057 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 5 413870 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 6 366403 XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-53.1.14.el5xen) 7 352302 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 8 284737 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 9 266302 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 10 253803 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 11 250140 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 12 249770 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 13 245977 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 14 241787 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 15 241204 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 16 212881 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 17 212812 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 18 212269 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 19 202940 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 20 201625 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 2731642 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 2 2255063 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 1259873 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 4 1224711 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1170053 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 7 953095 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 8 936978 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 9 936436 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 10 928602 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0) 11 859794 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 12 835271 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-67.ELsmp) 13 765759 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 14 744835 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 15 734597 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 16 718613 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 17 703339 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 18 695153 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp) 19 669373 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 20 625896 LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 24287 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 2 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 3 18067 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 4 12035 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 5 10948 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 6 10910 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-67.ELsmp) 7 9205 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 8 8972 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 9 6620 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 10 6214 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 11 5695 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 12 5311 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 13 5278 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 14 5250 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 15 5116 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp) 16 4765 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 17 4537 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 18 4533 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 19 4231 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 20 4155 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 476030 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 2 426973 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 425838 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 4 398474 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 5 343585 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 6 269568 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 7 265868 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 8 248360 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 9 242721 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 10 242302 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 11 237774 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 12 236201 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 13 221751 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 14 209670 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 15 209402 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 16 205172 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 17 204529 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 18 195548 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 181836 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 167103 LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
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 99171 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 4 80975 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 5 78074 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 6 77808 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 7 74035 E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 8 68472 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 9 64683 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 47532 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 13 46466 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 14 46144 SURFSPOT@NIC.SURFNET.NL (Windows Enterprise Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 44394 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 35311 CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 19 35305 CUNYMATTERS-ONLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 35213 SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)