Jon Peterson discusses the origins of Rule Zero on his blog. It featured as early as 1978 in Alarums & Excursions #38.
These are social issues that game rules can't solve.The only real problem I have with Rule 0 is when it is used abusively--because a lot of people talk about players using all the other game rules abusively, and pretty much never talk about DMs using Rule 0 abusively.
By which I mean: When the world can change underneath the players' feet, not simply without them noticing but preventing even the possibility that they ever COULD notice, you're treading on some real thin ice. Or if you capriciously override the rules in one situation but do not do so in a seemingly-identical later situation, such that the players now don't really have any ability to prepare for the future. Or when the DM's rulings deviate from the rules in biased or manipulable ways (e.g. always favoring their spouse/SO, being bribed with out-of-game benefits, giving IC punishments for OOC actions or events, etc.)
Surely Rule 0 itself is in that same space?These are social issues that game rules can't solve.