reformat READMEs, add HOWTO note for outdatedness

diff --git a/HOWTO b/HOWTO.md
similarity index 99%
rename from HOWTO
rename to HOWTO.md
index 39d812e..3c659ba 100644 (file)
--- a/HOWTO
+++ b/HOWTO.md
@@ -97,6 +97,9 @@ The patch is included in the Electrum sources we just downloaded, now we
 will download the Bitcoin sources, patch, compile and install the binary to
 our `~/bin` directory.
 
+Note that updated versions may affect these instructions, so *be mindful of 
+what you are doing!*
+
     $ cd ~/src
     $ wget https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/tarball/v0.6.0 -O bitcoin-0.6.0.tgz
     $ tar xvzf bitcoin-0.6.0.tgz

diff --git a/README b/README
deleted file mode 100644 (file)
index bdb7a5d..0000000
--- a/README
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-Electrum - server for the Electrum client
-
-Licence: GNU GPL v3
-Author: thomasv@gitorious
-Language: Python
-
-Features: 
-
-* The server uses a patched version of the Bitcoin daemon that can
-forward transactions, and bitcoin-abe 
-
-* The server code is open source. Anyone can run a server, removing
-single points of failure concerns.
-
-* The server knows which set of Bitcoin addresses belong to the same
-wallet, which might raise concerns about anonymity. However, it should
-be possible to write clients capable of using several servers.
-
-
-INSTALL
-
-1. patch and recompile the bitcoin daemon: see bitcoinrpc.cpp.diff and main.cpp.diff
-
-2. install bitcoin-abe : https://github.com/jtobey/bitcoin-abe
-
-3. install jsonrpclib: code.google.com/p/jsonrpclib/
-
-4. launch the server:  nohup python -u server.py > /var/log/electrum.log &
-
-
-Note: 
-You do not want to run bitcoin-abe and the server simultaneously, because they will both try to update the database. 
-If you want bitcoin-abe to be available on your website, run it with the --no-update option
-
-
-Upgrading Abe:
-if you upgrade abe, you might need to update the database. 
-in the abe directory, type:
- python -m Abe.abe --config=abe.conf --upgrade

diff --git a/README-IRC.md b/README-IRC.md
new file mode 100644 (file)
index 0000000..2eac19f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README-IRC.md
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+IRC is used by Electrum server to find 'peers' - other Electrum servers. The
+current list can be seen by running:
+
+    ./server.py peers
+
+The following config file options are used by the IRC part of Electrum server:
+
+    [server]
+    irc = yes
+    host = fqdn.host.name.tld
+    ircname = a description
+
+`irc` is used to determine whether the IRC thread will be started or the 
+Electrum server will run in private mode. In private mode, 
+`./server.py peers` will always return an empty list.
+
+`host` is a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of your Electrum server. It is
+used both when binding the listener for incoming client connections and as part
+of the realname field in IRC (see below).
+
+`ircname` is a short text that will be appended to 'host' when composing the 
+IRC realname field.
+
+The `realname` = `host` + ' ' + `ircname`. For example, using the example 
+configuration above, `realname` would be `fqdn.host.name.tld a description`.

diff --git a/README-IRC.txt b/README-IRC.txt
deleted file mode 100644 (file)
index 6df7631..0000000
--- a/README-IRC.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-IRC is used by Electrum server to find 'peers' - other Electrum servers. The current list can be seen by running:
-
-./server.py peers
-
-The following config file options are used by the IRC part of Electrum server:
-
-[server]
-irc = yes
-host = fqdn.host.name.tld
-ircname = some short description
-
-'irc' is used to determine whether the IRC thread will be started or the Electrum server will run in private mode. In private mode, ./server.py peers will always return an empty list.
-
-'host' is a fqdn of your Electrum server. It is used both when binding the listener for incoming client connections, and also as part of the realname field in IRC (see below).
-
-'ircname' is a short text that will be appended to 'host' when composing the IRC realname field:
-
-realname = 'host' + ' ' + 'ircname', for example 'fqdn.host.name.tld some short description'

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644 (file)
index 0000000..ebee0db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+Electrum-server for the Electrum client
+=========================================
+
+  * Author: thomasv@gitorious
+  * Language: Python
+
+Features
+--------
+
+  * The server uses a patched version of the Bitcoin daemon that can forward
+    transactions, and bitcoin-abe.
+  * The server code is open source. Anyone can run a server, removing single
+    points of failure concerns.
+  * The server knows which set of Bitcoin addresses belong to the same wallet,
+    which might raise concerns about anonymity. However, it should be possible
+    to write clients capable of using several servers.
+
+Installation
+------------
+
+  1. Patch and recompile bitcoin: see `patches/` for any necessary patches.
+  2. Install [bitcoin-abe](https://github.com/jtobey/bitcoin-abe).
+  3. Install [jsonrpclib](https://code.google.com/p/jsonrpclib/).
+  4. Launch the server: `nohup python -u server.py > /var/log/electrum.log &`
+     or use the included `start` script.
+
+See the included `HOWTO.md` for greater detail on the installation process.
+
+### Important Note
+
+Do not run bitcoin-abe and electrum-server simultaneously, because they will
+both try to update the database. 
+
+If you want bitcoin-abe to be available on your website, run it with 
+the `--no-update` option.
+
+### Upgrading Abe
+
+If you upgrade abe, you might need to update the database. In the abe directory, type:
+
+    python -m Abe.abe --config=abe.conf --upgrade
+
+License
+-------
+
+Electrum-server is made available under the terms of the [GNU Affero General
+Public License](http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html), version 3. See the 
+included `LICENSE` for more details.