![[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 3361755 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 699000 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 649860 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7) 4 624101 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 485663 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 472211 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 425228 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6) 8 396816 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 9 395526 LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 379433 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 369561 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 12 350908 EMAIL.SUPERMARKETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 349051 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 296063 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 277320 LISTSERVER.DIGITALRIVER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 276694 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.12) 17 243978 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 233882 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 232575 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 221717 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.7 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 4433742 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 4263498 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 3120765 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 3067187 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1693570 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1353272 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 1333683 LISTSERV.OFFICEMAX.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 1127347 LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 1091068 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 11 669818 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 638510 EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 13 610635 MM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 407264 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 354304 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 16 342443 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 17 339864 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 18 286528 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.7-1.15) 19 284735 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 260529 SMULTRON.EASE.ALGONET.SE (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 7994 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 2 4993 LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 3353 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 4 2930 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 5 2557 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3) 6 2351 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 2311 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.6) 8 2138 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 1831 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 1688 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 11 1480 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 12 1453 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 13 1451 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 1440 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 15 1404 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 1377 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 1350 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 18 1318 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 19 1280 HERMES.CIRC.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 20 1211 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.2)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 925667 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 908616 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 812369 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 647635 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7) 5 630113 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 477714 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 472062 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 8 457987 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 422332 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6) 10 417716 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 11 395526 LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 390254 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 13 372501 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 341837 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.12) 15 287046 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 16 284547 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 273465 LISTSERVER.DIGITALRIVER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 251839 ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 247181 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36) 20 233883 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 611279 HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 222483 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 185132 GOODIES-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 182333 REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 177265 HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 175194 GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 165179 JAVASCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 152437 SCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 152103 SUBSCRIBERS-JAVASCRIPTS-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 148272 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 136178 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 13 133277 BVTESTLIST@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 14 127715 SECURITYUPDATE@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 126644 BVNEWSLETTER@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 16 120615 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 120189 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 119811 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 87243 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 83694 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
