updated README with boilerplate

README.md

-This is edX, a platform for online course delivery. The project is primarily
-written in [Python](http://python.org/), using the
-[Django](https://www.djangoproject.com/) framework. We also use some
-[Ruby](http://www.ruby-lang.org/) and some [NodeJS](http://nodejs.org/).
+This is the main edX platform which consists of LMS and Studio.
+
+See [code.edx.org](http://code.edx.org/) for other parts of the edX code base.
 
 Installation
 ============
-The installation process is a bit messy at the moment. Here's a high-level
-overview of what you should do to get started.
 
-**TLDR:** There is a `scripts/create-dev-env.sh` that will attempt to set all of this up for you. 
-If you're in a hurry, run that script. Otherwise, I suggest
-that you understand what the script is doing, and why, by reading this document.
+There is a `scripts/create-dev-env.sh` that will attempt to set up a development
+environment.
+
+If you want to better understand what the script is doing, keep reading.
 
 Directory Hierarchy
 -------------------
+
 This code assumes that it is checked out in a directory that has three sibling
 directories: `data` (used for XML course data), `db` (used to hold a
 [sqlite](https://sqlite.org/) database), and `log` (used to hold logs). If you
@@ -144,10 +143,28 @@ in the `data` directory, instead of in Mongo. To run this older version, run:
 
     $ rake lms
 
-Further Documentation
-=====================
-Once you've got your project up and running, you can check out the `docs`
-directory to see more documentation about how edX is structured.
+License
+-------
+
+The code in this repository is licensed under version 3 of the AGPL unless
+otherwise noted.
+
+Please see ``LICENSE.txt`` for details.
+
+How to Contribute
+-----------------
+
+Contributions are very welcome. The easiest way is to fork this repo, and then
+make a pull request from your fork. The first time you make a pull request, you
+may be asked to sign a Contributor Agreement.
+
+Reporting Security Issues
+-------------------------
 
+Please do not report security issues in public. Please email security@edx.org
 
+Mailing List and IRC Channel
+----------------------------
 
+You can discuss this code on the [edx-code Google Group](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/edx-code) or in the
+`edx-code` IRC channel on Freenode.