Where did MUDs first come from?
MUDs first started long ago, when the only computers that could have multiple people logged in were mainframes. Over time, MUDs moved from mainframes to smaller servers, and now you can download and run MUD servers on a desktop PC and even some embedded devices. The topic of where MUDs came from is a very wide one. Rather than make a mess of it here, we refer interested readers to these excellent resources: A newsgroup posting from Richard Bartle in 1990. A MUD history summary, with other games included. Tree of MUD codebases from Wikipedia. These references should give an idea of where MUDs came from, as well as what codebases there are and how the different codebases relate to each other.
