![[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 632599 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 489232 XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.18.el5xen) 3 429668 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 426281 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 5 387573 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 6 370492 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 7 345307 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 8 230666 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 9 225538 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 10 220460 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 11 217829 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 12 208826 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 13 205788 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 14 189613 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 15 184769 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9) 16 181605 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 17 180036 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 18 178239 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 19 171767 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 171632 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 2328043 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 2 2198349 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 1310149 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 4 1277573 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1159281 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 7 971817 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0) 8 962618 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 9 958114 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 10 863784 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 11 783796 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 12 759185 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 13 755464 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 14 732195 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 15 729317 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp) 16 728046 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp) 17 711908 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 18 694781 LISTSERV.KSU.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 675689 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 20 658710 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 20478 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 2 19791 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 11141 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 5 10173 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp) 6 9160 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 7 7769 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 8 6965 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 9 6366 LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.10.el5) 10 5544 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 11 5449 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 12 5396 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 13 5394 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 14 5240 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp) 15 4929 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 16 4756 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 17 4707 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 18 4278 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 19 3751 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9) 20 3346 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 414357 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 412196 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 3 377036 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 4 366526 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 5 335888 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 6 222053 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 7 215265 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 8 212979 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 9 203897 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 10 202042 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 11 188889 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 12 187786 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 13 184181 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 14 174350 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 15 171589 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 16 168843 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 17 166340 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 18 159412 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9) 19 146987 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 20 146589 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
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 79094 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 4 77692 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 5 77001 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 6 74038 E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 7 67854 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 8 64056 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 9 61090 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 10 52804 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 11 47015 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 12 46444 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 13 46143 SURFSPOT@NIC.SURFNET.NL (Windows Enterprise Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 44085 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 15 42110 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 16 39606 PRESIDENT@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 17 36881 EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 18 36759 EPLUS@VM1.HQADMIN.DOE.GOV (VM/SP 3.0) 19 36719 DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 20 35136 CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)