Why are so many old websites hosted at universities like MIT?

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I Googled for the lyrics to “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” and up came [this ancient HTML document from the days of Web 2.0](https://stuff.mit.edu/people/dpolicar/writing/poetry/poems/meanGrinch.html).

I’ve noticed that Google will often point me to these very old, rudimentary webpages that are 20 years old or so, and often hosted at American universities like MIT.

So my question is, why do these websites exist in the first place, and why do they still exist?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Looks like they gave server space to “the MIT community.” Just keep following the breadcrumbs and you’ll see the owner of the page is an alumnus …

https://stuff.mit.edu/people/dpolicar/ …

and here is the page instructing how to add stuff to the “students’ portal.”

https://stuff.mit.edu/people/

In the early days, server space was often part of the deal from your ISP, email provider, or college. It’s nice that they haven’t taken it down.

I wouldn’t call it Web 2.0 though. That came later.

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