![[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 560496 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 461745 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 3 456177 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 425292 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 5 419995 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 6 398620 XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-53.1.14.el5xen) 7 353436 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 8 268161 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 9 258207 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 10 256212 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 11 253771 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (SunOS 5.8) 12 244245 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 13 237048 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 14 234513 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 15 231793 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 16 230769 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 17 211373 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 18 208392 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 204094 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 20 195054 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 2387080 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 2 2162099 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 1260536 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 4 1218446 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1131248 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 7 986468 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 8 950827 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0) 9 936978 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 10 936767 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 11 783149 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 12 752664 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 13 744835 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 14 732959 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 15 730988 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp) 16 720983 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 17 717293 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp) 18 709170 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 19 681645 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 632851 LISTSERV.KSU.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 20438 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 2 19728 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 11077 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 5 9907 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp) 6 9205 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 7 8920 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 8 6792 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 9 6323 LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.10.el5) 10 5778 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 11 5464 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 12 5399 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 13 5343 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 14 5201 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp) 15 4853 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 16 4711 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 17 4702 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 18 4294 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 19 4021 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 3726 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 453447 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 2 440527 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 416447 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 4 410617 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 5 344533 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 6 256144 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 7 250662 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (SunOS 5.8) 8 247658 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 9 246200 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 10 241324 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 11 233487 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 12 229618 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 13 224418 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 14 213616 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 15 203621 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 16 202416 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 17 196217 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 18 192019 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 19 170249 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 168459 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9)
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 78114 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 5 77270 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 6 76094 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 7 74036 E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 8 66264 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 9 64155 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 10 59843 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 11 52804 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 12 47532 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 13 46454 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 14 46143 SURFSPOT@NIC.SURFNET.NL (Windows Enterprise Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 44086 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 16 37788 SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 17 36895 EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 18 36730 DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 19 35415 CUNYMATTERS-ONLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 35336 TCUATHLETICS@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2003)