DMOZ had 9 lives. Used up yet? from one of the Open Directory’s founders Rich Skrenta covers how some of the ODP’s data has apparently been lost due to a main server crash, with backups not having been done. There’s apparently some attempt at recovery, but as Rich points out, does anyone at AOL really care? Sadly, it’s felt like not for many years. As with Rich, perhaps the best way forward is to just close the project. If not, c’mon Google, acquire it and reshape it somehow.
