put stuff in the readme

README.md

@@ -1,9 +1,44 @@
 # shred.ing-server
 
-Stuff to install on a (nominally) Ubuntu 24 host to create (e.g.) shred.ing, an internet hosted radio station.
+Stuff to install on a (nominally) Ubuntu 24 host to create (e.g.) shred.ing to create an internet hosted radio station.
+
 
 # TODO
 
-[ ] fix issue where streams HTML player disconnects after an hour
-[ ] create fallback streams to support switching casters
-[ ] write a tutoral explain how to use the files in this repo to create a streaming radio station
+ - [ ] fix issue where streams HTML player disconnects after an hour
+ - [ ] create fallback streams to support switching casters
+ - [ ] write a tutoral explaining how to use the files in this repo to create a streaming radio station
+
+
+# ABSTRACT
+
+Here you will hopefully find everything (aside hardware and content) that you need to get started self-hosting a radio-station.  This guide (and the other files in this repository) are focused on creating an internet hosted station but they should work well (albe it, with some adaptions) for creating a station on a private network ("intranet"), too.
+
+This repository is intended to contain enough information to get started self-hosting an internet radio station.  These same instructions should work fairly well for a intranet (private network) based station however some adaptions (such as skipping the "selecting a VPS provider" section) might be advisable. This setup can be a step toward broad-casting over "open" airwaves (however, this generally requires understanding local licesnsing and other applicable governance requirements, etc, which please as you may be inclined ).  Additionally, these instructions (the software used here, specifically) should work well use with sophisticaed hardware (lots of analog and/or digital sources, etc.).  That said, this is a "getting started" guide as well as instructions for useing the files in this repository.  Patches welcome :)
+
+# DESIGN
+
+The radio station consists of two parts: the workstation, responsible for broadcasting to the server, and the server responsible for streaming the audio sigal to the devices of whomever may be listening.  This repository includes most the configuration, HTML palyer, and other scripting needed for the server however the guild (this file!) contains some tips for working with Mixxx, the recommended broadcaster software.
+
+## workstation
+
+Although generally compatable in principle with a wide variety of software, the workstation setup required by this guild consists of a program (Mixxx, GPLv2+).  Mixxx is available in the form of pre-compiled binaries for a variety of operating systems.
+
+## server
+
+The server is somewhat more complex, but ultimatly relies mainly on two programs (Icecast2, GPLv2; Nginx, BSD-2c): Icecast2 (GPLv2) which receives our mixed signal and streams it to listeners, and nginx (BSD-2c) which is a web-server which will "proxy" the MP3 stream produced by Icecast, not witstanding the underlying (nominally) Ubuntu 24 system software.  Since this guide assumes we are building a internet facing server we also cover setting up ufw (a firewall program) and fail2ban (a nusance deturant toolkit), most in the form of explain how to use (and/or adapt!) the same filter rules in this repo.
+
+## summary
+
+ * This file plus the contents of this repository, along with PC capable running some recent version of Ubuntu (nearly any PC), should be enough to get a simple network radio station online.
+ * This guild is covers the steps to aquire an virtual private server from internet provider and configure it to server your radio station on the internet.
+ * Alternately, these steps should work fairly well starting with old PC you might like to use to create an intranet station.
+ * This guild doesn't give a great deal of coverage to Mixxx (and none to other audio caster software):
+   * Get comfortable with Mixx (or the audio caster software of your choice) before building your own station.
+   * For example, be comforable playing and switching tracks, creating playlists, keying your mic, whatever you plan to do.
+   * This guide recommends Mixxx: install it and mess around!
+   * If you hate Mixxx good search terms could be "audiocaster software send to icecast2".
+   * There are some tips for getting started with Mixxx in the next section and elsewhere below.
+
+# Materials
+>>>>>>> Stashed changes