What's a MUD, and why does NEES use one?

A MUD is a 'multi-user dungeon.' They were originally created as game environments, but have proven useful as a low-bandwidth means of collaboration among distributed users. For example, both the MCS Systems group and the Globus people use the mud heavily. We're starting one at SDSC for similar reasons; mostly for the developers and techies to hang out and chat.

It's a bit less organized than an IM chat or phone call, and faster than email. It has the large benefit that others can chime in, and help out with problems and such.

Requirements to join

First off, you will need a Mud account. You don't need a login account. Send mail to hubbard at sdsc dot edu and explain that you want access to the MUD for NEESgrid.
Secondly, you will need a client. (Akin to needing a browser to surf the web) I personally recommend that you get TinyFugue and use it. There are binaries for Windows, Unix, Mac OSX, and so forth.
Another recommended client is SimpleMu, which works especially well for Windows users.

Help! I can run TF, but how do I connect?

TinyFugue uses a startup file, usually called .tfrc. The simplest .tfrc is this:

/addworld NEES USERNAME PASSWORD neesdev.sdsc.edu 7777
/connect NEES

Where your username and password are used. You can also enter this when you start TF, but it's easier to put it into the startup file.

If you want a more elaborate example with highlighting, this page should get you started. Ben Clifford from ISI is the originator.

How do I talk?

The MCS FAQ page has a better list, but here's a quick set of tips:

To talk to everyone, precede your text with a double quote:
```
"Hello, all!
```

To whisper to someone, precede your text with mu:

mu shepard Can you update the release with this bugfix please?

To emote, use the single quote:
```
:blinks
  
```

Links

Back to MCS NEESgrid page

MCS MUD FAQ (frequently asked questions) page.

TinyFugue

Example TFRC