People have been taking pot shots since it took its first trot around the Internet. Whatever its problems it remains the biggest and best directory. Do some random searches on DMOZ and on the Yahoo directory. On average you should get considerably more results from DMOZ with no paid ads in the way. The drop in sites is, if you read the report, completely normal and part of a major link rot elimination exercise currently running a couple of times a year. The decline in editor numbers and what is clearly a recruitment and retention issue is a concern, but would be more of a concern if it was impacting on the core editorship, the relatively small band of editors numbering 500 approx who do 95% of the editing. At one time this band was also losing numbers at an alarming rate but it seems to have stabilised in recent months. DMOZ does have problems, of that there is no doubt. But it is nowhere near needing to be shot yet. And there is time to start reversing trends if the will exists.