No the lists have meaning but you need to understand what the lists mean and UA does not help much there.

First the published list is the gate list and is only used at the gate. Upgrades before the gate use a slightly different list. The gate list can be incomplete until 30 minutes or so prior to departure. Try to draw too much from the gate list data too early will lead to misunderstanding.

As explained earlier, everything that happen is easily explained IF you understand how the lists are built -- but just as the multiple upgrade rules are involved, the list operation is involved. It is not simple but that does not mean they are meaningless. It you want to get into the nits, the wiki is a good place to start.