webdoctor - 5:32 pm on Nov 29, 2006 (gmt 0)

I was a network engineer, heavy into the design & implimentation (...) where minutes of downtime equates to large $$$ losses (...)

I guessed :-)

My point was that if dmoz.org is down for a minute, or for a day, or for a month, no money is lost as a direct result. The world keeps turning, by and large the editors are patiently waiting (but moaning quietly on forums.dmoz.org), and when it's back, they'll keep on with their volunteer work.

How much hardware and software engineering would YOU throw at dmoz.org and editors.dmoz.org and the rest of the ODP, knowing that all that investment will not bring you one single cent of revenue, never mind profit? How do you do ROI calculations if the point of the endeavour is that there will never be a (direct) return?

If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail?