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 # Dat Enhancement Proposals
 
-Dat Enhancement Proposals. Contains all specs for the Dat protocol, including drafts.
+[![#dat IRC channel on freenode](https://img.shields.io/badge/irc%20channel-%23dat%20on%20freenode-blue.svg)](http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=dat)
+[![datproject/discussions](https://badges.gitter.im/Join%20Chat.svg)](https://gitter.im/datproject/discussions?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=badge&utm_campaign=pr-badge&utm_content=badge)
+[![docs](https://img.shields.io/badge/Dat%20Project-Docs-green.svg)](http://docs.dat-data.com)
+
+This repository contains a series of "Dat Enhancement Proposal" (DEP)
+documents, part of the dat protocol development and standardization process.
+
+Accepted proposals can be viewed at [datprotocol.com](https://datprotocol.com).
+New (draft) proposals and discussion can be viewed on [github][github-deps]
+under "issues" and "pull-requests".
+
+These documents might be interesting reading to anybody wanting to learn more
+about protocol nitty gritties or the consensus process, but the documentation
+at [https://docs.datproject.org]() is specifically written with end-users and
+application developers in mind.
+
+[github-deps]: https://github.com/datprotocol/DEPs/
+
+## The Process
+
+TL;DR: write up an DEP markdown file; submit a github PR; revise per review;
+community will either accept (merges PR) or not (closes PR). See the ["DEP
+Process"][dep-0001] meta-DEP for details.
+
+For now this process is as simple and informal; as the number of dat developers
+and users grows, it may become more formal. Precedents and inspiration include:
+
+- [Bittorrent Enhancement Proposals (BEP)](http://bittorrent.org/beps/bep_0001.html)
+- [Rust RFC Process](https://github.com/rust-lang/rfcs)
+- [Python Enhancement Proposal](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0001/)
+
+[dep-0001]: ./proposals/0001-dep-process.md
+
+## Fine Print
+
+The contents of this repository are all under a CC-BY (Creative Commons
+Attribution 4.0) license unless otherwise noted.
+
+Contributors and discussion participants are expected to abide by the Dat
+Project [Code of Conduct][coc].
+
+[coc]: https://github.com/datproject/Code-of-Conduct