[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – April 2004


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).

What do these numbers mean exactly?

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).


Top 20 sites by volume delivered daily (APR04, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    9267488  LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2    2041138  PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     689601  LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     550153  OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0)
  5     462353  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     453460  LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     430546  MAILER.INFORMIT.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8     402646  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9     376704  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 10     343713  LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11     337696  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 12     315628  LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8)
 13     298316  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14     288802  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 15     270991  DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9)
 16     241605  MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17     236360  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
 18     230656  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.21)
 19     229225  LISTSERV.CAMPBELLKITCHEN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20     208326  LISTSERV.DFN.DE (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1a)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (30 Apr 2004)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     3126472  LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8)
  2     2020824  DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     1261512  LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     1202129  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  5     1048379  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  6     1034117  ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     1023922  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
  8      968049  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9      942123  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 10      815489  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-20.8smp)
 11      735633  LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
 12      731437  PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13      648118  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 14      620972  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1)
 15      597176  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
 16      578196  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/ESA 2.3.0)
 17      543944  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4)
 18      534361  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 19      510993  ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3)
 20      503616  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (30 Apr 2004)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 20591  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-20.8smp)
  2 19335  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  3 17201  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4 14521  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  5  9429  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
  6  7388  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4)
  7  4789  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  8  4737  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1)
  9  4553  TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9)
 10  4398  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 11  4052  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12  3925  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 13  3900  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 14  3740  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 15  3562  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 16  3148  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7)
 17  2771  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18  2613  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19  2211  LISTSERV.UNL.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-17.7.xsmp)
 20  2173  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (APR04, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     870307  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     550186  OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0)
  3     508887  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     455552  LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8)
  5     451869  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     445934  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  7     340031  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  8     327640  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9     319637  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.21)
 10     318344  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 11     308086  DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9)
 12     301014  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13     280803  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
 14     214887  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15     207604  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16     186514  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17     184773  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp)
 18     182347  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1)
 19     174449  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20     174140  LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (30 Apr 2004)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      287704  SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
  2      282485  GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3      222483  EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4      178297  EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5      160651  CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6)
  6      142542  CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7      124855  MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8      111227  BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9       80820  VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1)
 10       69737  CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-30.9smp)
 11       66909  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8)
 12       60009  FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
 13       58711  CL-ANNOUNCE@LIST.MSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 14       56842  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8)
 15       56190  ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16       44043  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8)
 17       43944  FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
 18       37877  CTWADVISORYBOARD-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19       37664  L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 20       36348  ISDNNEWS@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4)