Refactor README.md file

- Initial refactorings of the README.md file with some more user
  oriented information about the php-src repository and PHP in general.
- SVG logo added
- README.WIN32-BUILD-SYSTEM file contents moved to README.md
- INSTALL file contents moved to README.md
- Windows releases now instead of install.txt file ship with the
  README.md.
- A brief installation section added with help options mentioned for the
  configure and make.
- Also mentioned the `-j` option for build and tests

Co-authored-by: Javier Eguiluz <javier.eguiluz@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Gabriel Caruso <carusogabriel34@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Matthias Kaschubowski <nihylum@gmail.com>

1 files changed, 95 insertions, 30 deletions

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9f34f8a906..7e44396982 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,46 +1,111 @@
-The PHP Interpreter
-===================
+<div align="center">
+    <a href="https://php.net">
+        <img
+            alt="PHP"
+            src="https://static.php.net/www.php.net/images/logos/new-php-logo.svg"
+            width="150">
+    </a>
+</div>
 
-This is the github mirror of the official PHP repository located at
-https://git.php.net.
+# The PHP Interpreter
 
-[![Build Status](https://secure.travis-ci.org/php/php-src.svg?branch=master)](http://travis-ci.org/php/php-src)
+PHP is a popular general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited to
+web development. Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your
+blog to the most popular websites in the world. PHP is distributed under the PHP
+License v3.01.
+
+[![Build status](https://travis-ci.org/php/php-src.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/php/php-src)
 [![Build status](https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/status/meyur6fviaxgdwdy?svg=true)](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/php/php-src)
 
-Pull Requests
-=============
-PHP accepts pull requests via github. Discussions are done on github, but
-depending on the topic can also be relayed to the official PHP developer
-mailing list internals@lists.php.net.
+## Documentation
+
+The PHP manual is available at [php.net/docs](https://php.net/docs).
+
+## Installation
+
+### Prebuilt packages and binaries
+
+Prebuilt packages and binaries can be used to get up and running fast with PHP.
+
+For Windows, the PHP binaries can be obtained from
+[windows.php.net](https://windows.php.net). After extracting the archive the
+`*.exe` files are ready to use.
+
+For other systems, see the [installation chapter](https://php.net/install).
+
+### Building PHP from source
+
+On \*nix systems:
+
+    ./buildconf
+    ./configure
+    make
+    make test
+    sudo make install
 
-New features require an RFC and must be accepted by the developers.
-See https://wiki.php.net/rfc and https://wiki.php.net/rfc/voting for more
-information on the process.
+See `./configure -h` and `make -h` for configuration options. For example, the
+`-j` option allows parallel execution of the build recipes where `N` is the
+number of available processor cores:
 
-Bug fixes **do not** require an RFC, but require a bugtracker ticket. Always
-open a ticket at https://bugs.php.net and reference the bug id using #NNNNNN.
+    make -j N
+
+For Windows, see
+[Build your own PHP on Windows](https://wiki.php.net/internals/windows/stepbystepbuild_sdk_2).
+
+## PHP extensions
+
+Extensions provide additional functionality on top of PHP. PHP consists of many
+essential bundled extensions. Additional extensions can be found in the PHP
+Extension Community Library - [PECL](https://pecl.php.net).
+
+## Contributing
+
+The PHP source code is located in the Git repository at
+[git.php.net](https://git.php.net). Contributions are most welcome by forking
+the [GitHub mirror repository](https://github.com/php/php-src) and sending a
+pull request.
+
+Discussions are done on GitHub, but depending on the topic can also be relayed
+to the official PHP developer mailing list internals@lists.php.net.
+
+New features require an RFC and must be accepted by the developers. See
+[Request for comments - RFC](https://wiki.php.net/rfc) and
+[Voting on PHP features](https://wiki.php.net/rfc/voting) for more information
+on the process.
+
+Bug fixes **do not** require an RFC but require a bug tracker ticket. Open a
+ticket at [bugs.php.net](https://bugs.php.net) and reference the bug id using
+`#NNNNNN`.
 
     Fix #55371: get_magic_quotes_gpc() throws deprecation warning
 
-    After removing magic quotes, the get_magic_quotes_gpc function caused
-    a deprecate warning. get_magic_quotes_gpc can be used to detected
-    the magic_quotes behavior and therefore should not raise a warning at any
-    time. The patch removes this warning
+    After removing magic quotes, the get_magic_quotes_gpc function caused a
+    deprecated warning. get_magic_quotes_gpc can be used to detect the
+    magic_quotes behavior and therefore should not raise a warning at any time.
+    The patch removes this warning.
 
-We do not merge pull requests directly on github. All PRs will be
-pulled and pushed through https://git.php.net.
+Pull requests are not merged directly on GitHub. All PRs will be pulled and
+pushed through [git.php.net](https://git.php.net). See
+[Git workflow](https://wiki.php.net/vcs/gitworkflow) for more details.
 
+### Guidelines for contributors
 
-Guidelines for contributors
-===========================
-- [CODING_STANDARDS](/CODING_STANDARDS)
-- [README.GIT-RULES](/README.GIT-RULES)
-- [README.MAILINGLIST_RULES](/README.MAILINGLIST_RULES)
-- [README.RELEASE_PROCESS](/README.RELEASE_PROCESS)
+See further documents in the repository for more information on how to
+contribute:
+
+- [Contributing to PHP](/CONTRIBUTING.md)
+- [PHP coding standards](/CODING_STANDARDS)
+- [Git rules](/README.GIT-RULES)
+- [Mailinglist rules](/README.MAILINGLIST_RULES)
+- [PHP release process](/README.RELEASE_PROCESS)
 
 ## Testing
 
-To run tests the `make test` is used after successful compilation of the sources.
+To run tests the `make test` is used after a successful compilation of the
+sources. The `-j` option provides faster parallel execution based on the number
+of cores (`N`):
+
+    make -j N test
 
-See [Creating new test files](https://qa.php.net/write-test.php) chapter for more
-information about testing.
+The [qa.php.net](https://qa.php.net) site provides more detailed info about
+testing and quality assurance.