README: clearly outline levels of platform support

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8e063883329bd5f3092313b093ff38d61fbed19c..7d9c96454587243a4f6dda4e8c3e35fc58b5d9f3 100644 (file)
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,8 +10,62 @@ It is meant to be used with an IRCv3-capable services implementation such as [At
 # necessary requirements
 
  * A supported platform
- * A working dynamic load library.
- * A working lex.  Solaris /usr/ccs/bin/lex appears to be broken, on this system flex should be used.
+ * A working dynamic library system
+ * A working lex and yacc - flex and bison should work
+
+# platforms
+
+Charybdis is designed with portability in mind, but does not target older systems nor those of solely academic
+interest.
+
+Do note that operating systems are only supported if they are supported by their vendor.
+
+## Tier 1
+
+These platforms are the best supported, and should always work. They are actively tested. If you encounter
+problems, please file a bug.
+
+* FreeBSD 10.x and above (i386 and amd64)
+* Linux 2.6.x and above with glibc or musl (i386, x86_64, and ARM)
+* Mac OS X 10.7 and above
+* Windows Vista/Server 2008 and above (x86 or x64)
+
+## Tier 2
+
+These platforms are supported, and most features should work, but this is not guaranteed. If you find any
+problems, file a bug, but as these are not regularly tested platforms, a timely resolution may not be
+possible.
+
+* DragonflyBSD 4.4 and above (i386)
+* Linux with uClibc (i386 or x86_64)
+* NetBSD 6.1.x and above (i386, amd64)
+* OpenBSD 5.6 and above (i386, amd64)
+* Solaris 10 and above (i386)
+
+## Tier 3
+
+These platforms should only be considered weakly supported, as they are either experimental or not actively
+tested. These platforms have usually been tested in the past, but they may or may not be in a useful state.
+Bugs for tier 3 architectures should have patches attached.
+
+* Solaris 10 and above (sparc64)
+* Old operating system versions of tier 2 and above platforms
+
+## Tier 4
+
+Platforms that are tier 4 are not supported at all. They include all platforms not included in tier 3 or
+above. Bugs to tier 4 platforms **must** have patches attached or will be rejected, possibly without comment.
+
+# platform specific errata
+
+These are known issues and workarounds for supported platforms.
+
+ * **FreeBSD**: if you are compiling with ipv6 you may experience
+   problems with ipv4 due to the way the socket code is written.  To
+   fix this you must: "sysctl net.inet6.ip6.v6only=0"
+
+ * **Solaris**: you may have to set your PATH to include /usr/gnu/bin and /usr/gnu/sbin before /usr/bin
+   and /usr/sbin. Solaris's default tools don't seem to play nicely with the configure script.
 
 # building from git
 
@@ -31,9 +85,8 @@ You will need to run `autogen.sh` to build the autotools files prior to building
    (Using CHALLENGE is not recommended for new deployments, so if you want to use a different TLS library,
     feel free.)
 
- * For ECDHE, OpenSSL 1.0.0 or newer is required. RHEL/Fedora and derivatives like CentOS
-   will need to compile OpenSSL from source, as ECC/ECDHE-functionality is removed from
-   the OpenSSL package in these distributions.
+ * For ECDHE, OpenSSL 1.0.0 or newer is required. Solaris; and RHEL/Fedora and its derivatives such as CentOS
+   have removed support for ECC/ECDHE. You will need to compile your own OpenSSL on these systems.
 
 # tips
 
@@ -41,29 +94,10 @@ You will need to run `autogen.sh` to build the autotools files prior to building
 
  * Please read doc/index.txt to get an overview of the current documentation.
 
+ * Read the NEWS file for what's new in this release.
+
  * The files, /etc/services, /etc/protocols, and /etc/resolv.conf, SHOULD be
    readable by the user running the server in order for ircd to start with
    the correct settings.  If these files are wrong, charybdis will try to use
    127.0.0.1 for a resolver as a last-ditch effort.
 
- * FREEBSD USERS: if you are compiling with ipv6 you may experience
-   problems with ipv4 due to the way the socket code is written.  To
-   fix this you must: "sysctl net.inet6.ip6.v6only=0"
-
- * SOLARIS USERS: you may have to set your PATH to include /usr/gnu/bin before /usr/bin. Solaris versions
-   older than 10 are not supported.
-
- * SUPPORTED PLATFORMS: this code should compile without any warnings on:
-
-   * FreeBSD 10
-   * Gentoo & Gentoo Hardened ~x86/~amd64/~fbsd
-   * RHEL 6 / 7
-   * Debian Jessie
-   * OpenSuSE 11/12
-   * OpenSolaris 2008.x?
-   * Solaris 10 sparc.
-   * Solaris 11 x86
-
-  Please let us know if you find otherwise. It may work on other platforms, but this is not guaranteed.
-
- * Please read NEWS for information about what is in this release.