Add README and metadata.

So I can publish to crates.io, reserving the name and allowing
installation of the binary via 'cargo install mastodonochrome'.

diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 6a8ec4d5e953c7a0e0b9590e1d9b94a149e345c3..48ceec68f6a4b0cc038cb542b785e92870843fc5 100644 (file)
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@
 name = "mastodonochrome"
 version = "0.1.0"
 edition = "2021"
+license = "MIT"
+description = "Terminal-based Mastodon client."
+license-file = "LICENCE"
+homepage = "https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/mastodonochrome/"
+repository = "https://git.tartarus.org/?p=simon/mastodonochrome.git"
 
 # See more keys and their definitions at https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/manifest.html
 [dependencies]

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644 (file)
index 0000000..45dd2c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+About
+=====
+
+Mastodonochrome is an **UNFINISHED** terminal-based client for the
+[Mastodon](https://joinmastodon.org/) federated social network.
+
+It has the following useful properties:
+
+* Terminal-based, so you can run it remotely over SSH
+* Single user interface that allows access to both your home timeline
+  and your notifications (believe it or not, at least one existing
+  terminal client doesn't do this)
+* Single-column display, so you can paste URLs out of the terminal to
+  a browser without including unrelated text in other columns (though
+  the paste will unfortunately include newlines at the wrap points)
+* Uses the Mastodon streaming API, so updates to your timeline or
+  mentions by other users are brought to your attention promptly
+
+The detailed user interface is modelled after [Monochrome
+BBS](https://www.mono.org/), because that was a user interface that
+the author happened to be familiar with already, which was compatible
+with all the properties listed above.
+
+This means it looks a bit different from the typical Mastodon client
+UI:
+
+* Timelines are printed with old stuff at the top and new stuff at the
+  bottom
+* The client remembers the last thing in your timeline you'd read, so
+  that when you restart the client you scroll down from there to see
+  new stuff
+* Notifications are divided up into separate categories in different
+  parts of the UI: @mentions and direct messages live in one place and
+  beep to get your attention, while boosts, follows and faves go into
+  a separate less prominent log elsewhere.
+
+**Current status**: unfinished, and in particular, lacks help. But it
+should be _somewhat_ usable, especially by somebody who already knows
+the Mono UI, or who's prepared to poke around the source code and find
+out the keystrokes that way. Read `TODO.md` for the list of known
+missing pieces.