I would as I alwys have, followed the following.

"do it once, do it right, forget about it".

I have seen over 200 backlinks from a single ODP inclusion, so I am not going to knock it But then again, nor do I worry about it, Once, right and be done with it, because we will have done all we can that is worth anything

DMOZ will always remain important as long as Google keeps importing data from DMOZ, like OWG pointed out, a single DMOZ inclusion could get you over 20 backlinks free.

DMOZ will have much importance than any directory, i think

I didnt know they had stopped taking submissions to start again!

It seems so hard to get listed I don't really bother with it or keep an eye on what's going on.

For the average web user I don't think ODP is much use at all, but like OWG said it'll continue to be important while google puts so much emphasis on its listings.