![[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 6178860 ALABAMA.VIRTUAL0.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 4991597 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 3336147 ALASKA.VIRTUAL0.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2551723 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2352601 ARIES.MTA0.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 2297407 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1065267 ALPHA.MX10.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1025612 BART.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 923428 MAIL1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 5.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 824403 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 761909 CARL.VALOFFERS.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 706759 VELA.MTA0.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 507005 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 14 499104 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 472734 JAGGEDMAIL.JAGGEDMIND.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 459568 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 447557 CNNIMAIL23.CNN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 445287 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 19 425920 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 402668 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 6445542 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 3067161 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 2732774 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2336535 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1819717 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 7 1737544 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1304493 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 9 1034186 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 980837 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 11 796391 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 12 758655 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 734522 LISTSERV.UNITEDWAY.ORG (Windows NT 4.0) 14 533101 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 532425 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 16 516042 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 17 473345 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 466477 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 19 463023 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 461722 LISTAS.STARMEDIA.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 9288 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 5018 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 3 4403 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 4 4014 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 5 3823 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 3753 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 7 3657 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 8 3589 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 3238 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 3169 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 11 3081 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.19-6.2.16smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 2696 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 13 2380 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 14 2319 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.9-31) 15 2273 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 16 2271 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4) 17 2180 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 2047 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp) 19 2023 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 20 2009 VENUS.VCU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 935887 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 813544 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 556584 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 516975 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 507103 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 6 483291 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 462249 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 325666 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 321038 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 10 314230 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 11 312317 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 311909 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (???) 13 301336 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.20pre11) 14 272348 WALLACE.POGO.COM (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 264921 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.8) 16 260973 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.19-6.2.16smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 221742 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.18) 18 212911 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 19 208296 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 20 198473 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 447201 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 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 197224 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.7) 5 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 154346 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 7 142542 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 132672 VULNTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 124844 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 116874 WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 111227 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 106909 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 84803 TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 83146 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 65161 THEONLINEINVESTOR@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 58117 PLIMAIL@LISTSERV.PLI.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 57052 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 18 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 50985 GOURMET-ECLUB@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 50035 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8)
