Version 1
We started with the first version of peach (then called PEACH/vs) in early 2001. The basic idea was to create a simple website where our students could upload their programming homework assignments.
We got the idea from software that was used for programming contests, specifically PC². This is a Java application used by the ACM programming contest (which we hosted in 1999, and therefor had some experience with it) where contestants would supply their solution to some programming problem and a jury would (manually) evaluate the quality of the submission.