What I look for in a readme file...

First is a brief overview of what the software does.

If there isn't an install file, I look first for how to install the silly thing. I want detailed instructions beyond 

perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
make install

[download]
I want the most common or two errors you'll get as well as solutions to them. Also a brief overview about installing it on other platforms.

Somewhere there should be a list of all the environmental vars that might affect install (and running but that could be in the man pages or other documentation).

I look for where to go for more extensive help. Who the author is, what email lists discuss it, and other good support places.

There should be something about copyright and what rights the user and author both have.

Everything else I look for in the man pages, which should have some good examples of how to use the software.

I'm generally in favor of have different files for README, INSTALL, COPYRIGHT, etc. I expect each one to have a lot of information rather than some trivial "read the man pages after you have installed" or "I don't have anything in this file yet, check back in the next version." I've seen both statements and they were a sign that I was dealing with buggy software.

In reply to Re: What should be in the README for a module? by xorl
in thread What should be in the README for a module? by rinceWind

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