docs: update README and add RELEASE NOTES

Change-Id: Ifb79bda4d8cddc8002e244a090723c284c49a2c9
Refs: #1439
diff --git a/docs/index.rst b/docs/index.rst
index 385a657..0f76bcb 100644
--- a/docs/index.rst
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@@ -1,11 +1,80 @@
-NFD - Named Data Networking Forwarding Daemon's documentation
-=============================================================
+NFD - Named Data Networking Forwarding Daemon
+=============================================
+
+NFD is a network forwarder that implements and evolves together with the Named Data
+Networking (NDN) `protocol <http://named-data.net/doc/ndn-tlv/>`__. After the initial
+release, NFD will become a core component of the `NDN Platform
+<http://named-data.net/codebase/platform/>`__ and will follow the same release cycle.
+
+NFD is developed by a community effort. Although the first release was mostly done by the
+members of `NSF-sponsored NDN project team
+<http://named-data.net/project/participants/>`__, it already contains significant
+contributions from people outside the project team (for more details, refer to `AUTHORS.md
+<https://github.com/named-data/NFD/blob/master/AUTHORS.md>`__).  We strongly encourage
+participation from all interested parties, since broader community support is key for NDN
+to succeed as a new Internet architecture. Bug reports and feedback are highly
+appreciated and can be made through `Redmine site
+<http://redmine.named-data.net/projects/nfd>`__ and the `ndn-interest mailing list
+<http://www.lists.cs.ucla.edu/mailman/listinfo/ndn-interest>`__.
+
+The main design goal of NFD is to support diverse experimentation of NDN technology. The
+design emphasizes *modularity* and *extensibility* to allow easy experiments with new
+protocol features, algorithms, and applications. We have not fully optimized the code for
+performance.  The intention is that performance optimizations are one type of experiments
+that developers can conduct by trying out different data structures and different
+algorithms; over time, better implementations may emerge within the same design framework.
+
+NFD will keep evolving in three aspects: improvement of the modularity framework, keeping
+up with the NDN protocol spec, and addition of other new features. We hope to keep the
+modular framework stable and lean, allowing researchers to implement and experiment
+with various features, some of which may eventually work into the protocol spec.
+
+The design and development of NFD benefited from our earlier experience with `CCNx
+<http://www.ccnx.org>`__ software package. However, NFD is not in any part derived from
+CCNx codebase and does not maintain compatibility with CCNx.
+
+Downloading
+-----------
+
+NFD code can be downloaded from `GitHub git repository <https://github.com/named-data/NFD>`_.
+
+Refer to :ref:`NFD Installation Instructions` for detailed guide on how to install NFD
+from source.
+
+NFD Documentation
+-----------------
 
 .. toctree::
-   release_notes
+   :hidden:
+   :maxdepth: 2
+
+   RELEASE_NOTES
    Installation Instruction <INSTALL>
    NFD Configuration Tips <README>
    manpages
-   :maxdepth: 1
+
+
+
+* :ref:`NFD v0.1.0 Release Notes`
+
+* :ref:`NFD Installation Instructions`
+
+* :ref:`NFD Configuration Tips`
+
+* :ref:`Manpages`
+
+* `NFD Wiki <http://redmine.named-data.net/projects/nfd/wiki>`_
+
+  + `NFD Management protocol <http://redmine.named-data.net/projects/nfd/wiki/Management>`_
+  + `NFD Configuration file format <http://redmine.named-data.net/projects/nfd/wiki/ConfigFileFormat>`_
 
 * `API documentation (doxygen) <doxygen/annotated.html>`_
+
+
+License
+-------
+
+NFD is an open and free software package licensed under GPL 3.0 license and is the
+centerpiece of our committement to making NDN's core technology open and free to all
+Internet users and developers. For more information about the licensing details and
+limitation, refer to `COPYING.md <https://github.com/named-data/NFD/blob/master/COPYING.md>`_.