Merge pull request #2505 from karalabe/make-readme-suck-less

Make the README suck less :P

1 files changed, 36 insertions, 25 deletions

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2d60e0564..aaf44997d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ master    | [![Build+Status](https://build.ethdev.com/buildstatusimage?builder=L
 
 [![API Reference](
 https://camo.githubusercontent.com/915b7be44ada53c290eb157634330494ebe3e30a/68747470733a2f2f676f646f632e6f72672f6769746875622e636f6d2f676f6c616e672f6764646f3f7374617475732e737667
-)](https://godoc.org/github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum) 
+)](https://godoc.org/github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum)
 [![Gitter](https://badges.gitter.im/Join%20Chat.svg)](https://gitter.im/ethereum/go-ethereum?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=badge&utm_campaign=pr-badge)
 
 ## Automated development builds
@@ -38,36 +38,47 @@ Once the dependencies are installed, run
 
 ## Executables
 
-Go Ethereum comes with several wrappers/executables found in 
-[the `cmd` directory](https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/tree/develop/cmd):
+The go-ethereum project comes with several wrappers/executables found in the `cmd` directory.
 
- Command  |         |
-----------|---------|
-`geth` | Ethereum CLI (ethereum command line interface client) |
-`bootnode` | runs a bootstrap node for the Discovery Protocol |
-`ethtest` | test tool which runs with the [tests](https://github.com/ethereum/tests) suite: `/path/to/test.json > ethtest --test BlockTests --stdin`.
-`evm` | is a generic Ethereum Virtual Machine: `evm -code 60ff60ff -gas 10000 -price 0 -dump`. See `-h` for a detailed description. |
-`disasm` | disassembles EVM code: `echo "6001" | disasm` |
-`rlpdump` | prints RLP structures |
+| Command    | Description |
+|:----------:|-------------|
+| **`geth`** | Our main Ethereum CLI client. It is the entry point into the Ethereum network (main-, test- or private net), capable of running as a full node (default) archive node (retaining all historical state) or a light node (retrieving data live). It can be used by other processes as an gateway into the Ethereum network via JSON RPC endpoints exposed on top of HTTP, WebSocket and/or IPC transports. Please see our [Command Line Options](https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/wiki/Command-Line-Options) wiki page for details. |
+| `abigen` | Source code generator to convert Ethereum contract definitions into easy to use, compile-time type-safe Go packages. It operates on plain [Ethereum contract ABIs](https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/Ethereum-Contract-ABI) with expanded functionality if the contract bytecode is also available. However it also accepts Solidity source files, making development much more streamlined. Please see our [Native DApps](https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/wiki/Native-DApps:-Go-bindings-to-Ethereum-contracts) wiki page for details. |
+| `bootnode` | Stripped down version of our Ethereum client implementation that only takes part in the network node discovery protocol, but does not run any of the higher level application protocols. It can be used as a lightweight bootstrap node to aid in finding peers in private networks. |
+| `disasm` | Bytecode disassembler to convert EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) bytecode into more user friendly assembly-like opcodes (e.g. `echo "6001" | disasm`). For details on the individual opcodes, please see pages 22-30 of the [Ethereum Yellow Paper](http://gavwood.com/paper.pdf). |
+| `evm` | Developer utility version of the EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) that is capable of running bytecode snippets within a configurable environment and execution mode. Its purpose is to allow insolated, fine graned debugging of EVM opcodes (e.g. `evm --code 60ff60ff --debug`). |
+| `gethrpctest` | Developer utility tool to support our [ethereum/rpc-test](https://github.com/ethereum/rpc-tests) test suite which validates baseline conformity to the [Ethereum JSON RPC](https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/JSON-RPC) specs. Please see the [test suite's readme](https://github.com/ethereum/rpc-tests/blob/master/README.md) for details. |
+| `rlpdump` | Developer utility tool to convert binary RLP ([Recursive Length Prefix](https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/RLP)) dumps (data encoding used by the Ethereum protocol both network as well as consensus wise) to user friendlier hierarchical representation (e.g. `rlpdump --hex CE0183FFFFFFC4C304050583616263`). |
 
-## Command line options
+## Contribution
 
-`geth` can be configured via command line options, environment variables and config files.
+Thank you for considering to help out with the source code! We welcome contributions from
+anyone on the internet, and are grateful for even the smallest of fixes!
 
-To get the options available:
+If you'd like to contribute to go-ethereum, please fork, fix, commit and send a pull request
+for the maintainers to review and merge into the main code base. If you wish to submit more
+complex changes though, please check up with the core devs first on [our gitter channel](https://gitter.im/ethereum/go-ethereum)
+to ensure those changes are in line with the general philosopy of the project and/or get some
+early feedback which can make both your efforts much lighter as well as our review and merge
+procedures quick and simple.
 
-    geth help
+Please make sure your contributions adhere to our coding guidlines:
 
-For further details on options, see the [wiki](https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/wiki/Command-Line-Options)
+ * Code must adhere to the official Go [formatting](https://golang.org/doc/effective_go.html#formatting) guidelines (i.e. uses [gofmt](https://golang.org/cmd/gofmt/)).
+ * Code must be documented adherign to the official Go [commentary](https://golang.org/doc/effective_go.html#commentary) guidelines.
+ * Pull requests need to be based on and opened against the `develop` branch.
+ * Commit messages should be prefixed with the package(s) they modify.
+   * E.g. "eth, rpc: make trace configs optional"
 
-## Contribution
+Please see the [Developers' Guide](https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/wiki/Developers'-Guide)
+for more details on configuring your environment, managing project dependencies and testing procedures.
+
+## License
 
-If you'd like to contribute to go-ethereum please fork, fix, commit and
-send a pull request. Commits who do not comply with the coding standards
-are ignored (use gofmt!). If you send pull requests make absolute sure that you
-commit on the `develop` branch and that you do not merge to master.
-Commits that are directly based on master are simply ignored.
+The go-ethereum library (i.e. all code outside of the `cmd` directory) is licensed under the
+[GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-3.0.en.html), also
+included in our repository in the `COPYING.LESSER` file.
 
-See [Developers' Guide](https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/wiki/Developers'-Guide)
-for more details on configuring your environment, testing, and
-dependency management.
+The go-ethereum binaries (i.e. all code inside of the `cmd` directory) is licensed under the
+[GNU General Public License v3.0](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html), also included
+in our repository in the `COPYING` file.