![[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]](/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 919713 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 700816 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 554045 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 4 525786 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 462358 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 418324 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 388545 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 8 387609 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 366286 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 357209 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 11 343697 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-27.0.2.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 336355 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 289954 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 14 286558 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 269416 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 16 246974 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 240183 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 235823 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 217367 LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.8) 20 199172 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 5.2 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3703328 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2200625 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-29.8.8smp) 3 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 1545922 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1354284 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 6 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 7 1118320 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 8 1082986 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 9 1041290 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 10 1034117 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 928755 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 887507 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 747287 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 14 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 710303 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-27.0.2.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 692500 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 17 666513 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 18 664206 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 19 650053 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 20 649694 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 26629 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 24254 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-29.8.8smp) 3 21637 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 4 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 9870 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 6 8284 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 7 6212 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 8 5592 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 9 5290 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 10 5095 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 4708 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-27.0.2.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 4275 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 13 4263 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 14 4191 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 15 4065 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 16 3685 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 17 3589 MARIST (VM/SP 1.0) 18 3542 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 3306 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 2447 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (SunOS 5.8 (unix))
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 843365 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 554085 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 3 430560 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 405904 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 391957 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 6 377400 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 7 373387 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 357721 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 9 337011 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 326798 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-27.0.2.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 326176 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 12 272481 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 13 238868 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 238563 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 227972 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 197231 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-27.7.xsmp) 17 195554 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 5.2 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 182112 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 19 174418 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 20 164310 LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 340883 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 123459 SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 9 122844 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 10 111227 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 77903 CL-ANNOUNCE@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.5-7.147-smp) 12 74963 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 13 71744 FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 14 67459 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 15 65487 CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp) 16 61123 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 17 60575 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 18 58856 L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 19 57209 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 20 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
