![[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 9679411 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 1708536 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 603562 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 4 559846 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 454859 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 398494 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 368249 MAILER.INFORMIT.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 358185 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 9 347082 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 331269 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 322494 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 321697 CDMAIL3.CORREODIRECT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 241957 PRDLSV1.SHAW.CA (SunOS 5.9) 14 234590 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.20-28.7smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 219902 MAILLIST.VOYETRA.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 215795 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 17 206481 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 18 205004 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 19 198654 LISTSERV.CAMPBELLKITCHEN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 193044 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3851933 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1259405 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 4 1221197 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1157638 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-29.8.4smp) 7 1052510 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 8 1034117 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 944698 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 903236 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 857626 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 12 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 610784 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 14 605919 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 15 584165 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.26-grsec) 16 577563 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 17 539954 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 18 525386 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 19 508563 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 20 501966 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 41011 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-29.8.4smp) 2 19459 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 18049 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 5 9713 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 6 7646 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.26-grsec) 7 4659 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 8 4501 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 4022 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 10 4015 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 11 3977 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 12 3946 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.20-28.7smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 3919 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 14 3855 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 3844 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 16 3249 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 17 2586 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 2241 LISTSERV.UNL.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-17.7.xsmp) 19 2233 LISTS.VCU.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-5) 20 2215 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 724756 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 603599 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 3 513933 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 4 434159 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 386911 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 386265 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 245243 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.26) 8 244980 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 9 241957 PRDLSV1.SHAW.CA (SunOS 5.9) 10 232264 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.20-28.7smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 229337 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 12 225133 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 13 219853 MAILLIST.VOYETRA.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 209580 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 184051 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 180512 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 162716 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 158503 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 19 149339 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 138680 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 297658 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 80473 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1) 10 68975 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 11 67861 CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-30.9smp) 12 63763 CL-ANNOUNCE@LIST.MSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 62109 FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 14 58355 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 15 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 47374 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 17 46555 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 18 37877 CTWADVISORYBOARD-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 37663 L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 20 36573 ISDNNEWS@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.26-grsec)