Move (copy) the README file back into place

Recent commits which vendor all of the various rabbitmq-components
into this repository moved the root README file to another
location. It has some relevancy at that location, so we copy it back
to the root.

1 files changed, 40 insertions, 288 deletions

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 41cfec6285..28bb2699fd 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,313 +1,65 @@
-# RabbitMQ server releases
+[![OTP v22.3](https://img.shields.io/github/workflow/status/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/Test%20-%20Erlang%2022.3/master?label=Erlang%2022.3)](https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/actions?query=workflow%3A%22Test+-+Erlang+22.3%22+branch%3A%22master%22)
+[![OTP v23](https://img.shields.io/github/workflow/status/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/Test%20-%20Erlang%2023.1/master?label=Erlang%2023.1)](https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/actions?query=workflow%3A%22Test+-+Erlang+23.1%22+branch%3Amaster)
 
-This repository provides scripts and Makefiles we use to create RabbitMQ
-server releases. It is organized in the following way:
-* The top-level `Makefile` manages the source archive.
-* There is a subdirectory inside `packaging` for each type of package we
- support.
+# RabbitMQ Server
 
-## TL;DR
+[RabbitMQ](https://rabbitmq.com) is a [feature rich](https://rabbitmq.com/documentation.html), multi-protocol messaging broker. It supports:
 
-* To create a source archive and all supported packages:
+ * AMQP 0-9-1
+ * AMQP 1.0
+ * MQTT 3.1.1
+ * STOMP 1.0 through 1.2
 
-    ```
-    make packages
-    ```
 
-* To create a source archive and all supported packages, with a given version:
+## Installation
 
-    ```
-    make packages PROJECT_VERSION=3.8.1-rc.1
-    ```
+ * [Installation guides](https://rabbitmq.com/download.html) for various platforms
+ * [Kubernetes Cluster Operator](https://www.rabbitmq.com/kubernetes/operator/operator-overview.html)
+ * [Changelog](https://www.rabbitmq.com/changelog.html)
+ * [Releases](https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-server/releases) on GitHub
+ * [Supported and unsupported series](https://www.rabbitmq.com/versions.html)
+ * [Supported Erlang versions](https://www.rabbitmq.com/which-erlang.html)
 
-* To create all suported packages from an existing source archive:
 
-    ```
-    make -C packaging SOURCE_DIST_FILE=/path/to/rabbitmq-server-3.8.1-rc.1.tar.xz
-    ```
+## Tutorials & Documentation
 
-The standalone package is different because it embeds the build
-platform's Erlang copy. Thus on Linux for instance, only the
-`linux-x86_64` standalone package will be built. To build the OS X
-standalone package, you need to run the following command on an OS X
-build host:
+ * [RabbitMQ tutorials](https://rabbitmq.com/getstarted.html)
+ * [All documentation guides](https://rabbitmq.com/documentation.html)
+ * [CLI tools guide](https://rabbitmq.com/cli.html) 
+ * [Configuration guide](https://rabbitmq.com/configure.html) 
+ * [Client libraries and tools](https://rabbitmq.com/devtools.html)
+ * [Monitoring guide](https://rabbitmq.com/monitoring.html)
+ * [Production checklist](https://rabbitmq.com/production-checklist.html)
+ * [Runnable tutorials](https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-tutorials/)
+ * [Documentation source](https://github.com/rabbitmq/rabbitmq-website/)
 
-```
-make package-standalone-macosx
-# or
-make -C packaging package-standalone-macosx SOURCE_DIST_FILE=/path/to/rabbitmq-server-3.8.1-rc.1.tar.xz
-```
 
-The instructions in the [`PKG_LINUX.md`](PKG_LINUX.md) document include a
-script to install the necessary pre-requisites for building package archives as
-well as `deb` and `rpm` packages.
+## Getting Help
 
-## Source archive
+ * [RabbitMQ mailing list](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/rabbitmq-users)
+ * [Commercial support](https://rabbitmq.com/services.html) from [Pivotal](https://pivotal.io) for open source RabbitMQ
+ * [Community Slack](https://rabbitmq-slack.herokuapp.com/)
+ * `#rabbitmq` on Freenode
 
-### How to create it
 
-The source archive is created with the following command:
-```
-make source-dist
-```
+## Contributing
 
-It uses Erlang.mk's `PROJECT_VERSION` variable to set the version of the
-source archive. If the variable is unset, Erlang.mk computes a value
-based on the last tag and the current HEAD.
+See [CONTRIBUTING.md](./CONTRIBUTING.md) and our [development process overview](https://rabbitmq.com/github.html).
 
-Here is an example with an explicit version:
-```
-make source-dist PROJECT_VERSION=3.8.1-rc.1
-```
+Questions about contributing, internals and so on are very welcome on the [mailing list](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/rabbitmq-users).
 
-The version is automatically propagated to the broker and plugins so
-they all advertise the same version.
 
-The result is then available in the `PACKAGES` subdirectory. You can
-override the output directory with the `PACKAGES_DIR` variable:
-```
-make source-dist PROJDCT_VERSION=3.8.1-rc.1 \
-  PACKAGES_DIR=/tmp
-```
+## Licensing
 
-By default, two archives are produced:
-* a `tar.xz` file;
-* a `zip` file.
+RabbitMQ server is [licensed under the MPL 2.0](LICENSE-MPL-RabbitMQ).
 
-You can ask for more/different types by specifying the
-`SOURCE_DIST_SUFFIXES` variable:
-```
-make source-dist PROJECT_VERSION=3.8.1-rc.1 \
-  SOURCE_DIST_SUFFIXES='tar.xz tar.gz'
-```
 
-Supported archive types are:
-* `tar.bz2`;
-* `tar.gz`;
-* `tar.xz`;
-* `zip`.
+## Building From Source and Packaging
 
-### What is included
+ * [Building RabbitMQ from Source](https://rabbitmq.com/build-server.html)
+ * [Building RabbitMQ Distribution Packages](https://rabbitmq.com/build-server.html)
 
-The source archive includes the broker and a set of plugins. The default
-list of plugins is in the `plugins.mk` file.
 
-You can override this list by setting the `PLUGINS` variable to the list
-you want:
-```
-make source-dist PROJECT_VERSION=3.8.1-rc.1 \
-  PLUGINS='rabbitmq_shovel rabbitmq_rabbitmq_shovel_management'
-```
+## Copyright
 
-Dependencies are automatically included.
-
-## Packages
-
-Packages can be built with an existing source archive or create the
-source archive automatically.
-
-If you want to use an existing archive, use `packaging/Makefile`:
-```
-make -C packaging package-$type \
-  SOURCE_DIST_FILE=/path/to/rabbitmq-server-$version.tar.xz \
-  ...
-```
-
-This has the following rules:
-* The archive must be a `tar.xz` file.
-* It can automatically take the only archive available under `PACKAGES`.
- However, if there is none or multiple archive, you must specify the
- `SOURCE_DIST_FILE` variable.
-
-If you want the source archive to be created automatically, use the
-top-level `Makefile`:
-```
-make package-$type PROJECT_VERSION=3.8.1-rc.1 ...
-```
-
-Packages are written to `PACKAGES_DIR`, like the source archive.
-
-Each package type is further described separately because most of them
-have versioning specificities.
-
-### `generic-unix` package
-
-To create it:
-```
-make package-generic-unix
-```
-
-There is no package revision, only the project version and no
-restriction on it.
-
-`packaging/generic-unix/Makefile` tries to determine the version based
-on the source archive filename. If it fails, you can specify the version
-with the `VERSION` variable:
-```
-make -C packaging package-generic-unix \
-  SOURCE_DIST_FILE=rabbitmq-server.tar.xz \
-  VERSION=3.8.1-rc.1
-```
-
-### Debian package
-
-To create it:
-```
-make package-deb
-```
-
-The package may have a different versioning than the project and may
-include an additional package revision. In particular, the package
-version can't have any `-` characters.
-
-`packaging/debs/Debian/Makefile` tries to determine the version based
-on the source archive filename. If it fails, you can specify the version
-with the `VERSION` variable:
-```
-make -C packaging package-deb \
-  SOURCE_DIST_FILE=rabbitmq-server.tar.xz \
-  VERSION=3.8.1-rc.1
-```
-
-By default, the package version is converted from `VERSION` with
-all `-` characters replaced by `~` (eg. `3.8.1~rc.1` in the example
-above). If you want to override that conversion, you can specify the
-`DEBIAN_VERSION` variable:
-```
-make -C packaging package-deb \
-  SOURCE_DIST_FILE=rabbitmq-server.tar.xz \
-  VERSION=3.8.1-rc.1
-  DEBIAN_VERSION=3.8.1~rc.1
-```
-
-### RPM package
-
-We support RedHat and OpenSUSE RPM packages and both are created by default:
-
-To create them:
-```
-make package-rpm
-```
-
-You can create a single one with:
-```
-make package-rpm-fedora
-make package-rpm-suse
-```
-
-RPM packages have the same restrictions as Debian packages and use the
-same default version conversion. To override the converted version, use
-the `RPM_VERSION` variable. See the "Debian package" section above for
-more details.
-
-`packaging/RPMS/Fedora/Makefile`, which handles both RedHar and OpenSUSE
-flavors, accepts the `RPM_OS` variable to set the flavor. It can be:
-* `fedora`;
-* `suse`.
-
-### Windows package
-
-We create two artefacts:
-
-* a Zip archive, resembling the `generic-unix` package;
-* an installer.
-
-To create them:
-
-```
-make package-windows
-```
-
-To create them separately:
-
-```
-make -C packaging/windows     # the Zip archive
-make -C packaging/windows-exe # the installer
-```
-
-The Zip archive has no package revision, only the project version and no
-restriction on it. It supports the same `VERSION` as the `generic-unix`
-package.
-
-The installer requires a *product version* which must be 4 integers
-separated by `.` characters. Furthermore, unlike other packages, this
-one requires the Zip archive as its input, not the source archive.
-
-So you need to built the Zip archive first, then the installer. You can
-specify the path to the Zip archive using the `ZIP` variable:
-
-```
-make -C packaging/windows-exe ZIP=/path/to/rabbitmq-server-windows.zip
-```
-
-By default, the *product version* is the project version where
-everything following the third integer was replaced by `.0`. Thus it's
-only fine if the version is a semver-based version (eg. 3.8.1-pre.3 or
-3.8.2). If the version doesn't conform to that, you need to set the
-`PRODUCT_VERSION` variable:
-
-```
-make package-windows PROJECT_VERSION=3.8.1-rc.1 PRODUCT_VERSION=3.8.1.0
-```
-
-To build the Windows package using a Windows machine, follow the
-instructions in [`PKG_WINDOWS.md`](PKG_WINDOWS.md).
-
-### Standalone package
-
-This is the equivalent of the `generic-unix` package with Erlang
-embbeded.
-
-To create it:
-```
-make -C packaging/standalone SOURCE_DIST_FILE=... VERSION=...
-```
-
-There is no package revision, only the project version and no
-restriction on it.
-
-Unlike other packages, the top-level `Makefile` and `packaging/Makefile`
-provide targets to build the standalone package for specific platforms:
-```
-make package-standalone-macosx
-make package-standalone-linux-x86_64
-make package-standalone-freebsd-x86_64
-```
-
-Cross-build isn't supported so using those targets on incompatible
-platforms is a no-op.
-
-If you want to build a standalone package for your platform, you can use
-`packaging/standalone/Makefile` as described at the beginning of this
-section.
-
-### Building all packages in one go
-
-If you want to build all packages in one command, you can use the
-following helpers:
-```
-# Automatically creates the source archive.
-make packages
-
-# Use an existing archive.
-make -C packaging package SOURCE_DIST_FILE=...
-```
-
-However, be careful with the versioning! Because all package have
-incompatible requirements, you can only use a version with 3 integers
-(like a final semver-based version):
-```
-make packages PROJECT_VERSION=3.8.1
-make -C packaging packages SOURCE_DIST_FILE=rabbitmq-server-3.8.1.tar.xz
-```
-
-If you do not follow that rule, the build will fail one way or another;
-probably in the Windows package because of the *product version*
-restrictions.
-
-Another possibility is to specify the Windows *product version* and
-rely on automatic conversion for Debian and RPM packages (or use the
-`DEBIAN_VERSION` and `RPM_VERSION` variables), but this is untested:
-```
-make packages PROJECT_VERSION=3.8.1-rc.1 PRODUCT_VERSION=3.8.1.0
-```
+(c) 2007-2020 VMware, Inc. or its affiliates.