README file: n. Hacker's-eye introduction traditionally included in the top-level
directory of a Unix source distribution, containing a pointer to more
detailed documentation, credits, miscellaneous revision history, notes,
etc. In the Mac and PC worlds, software is not usually distributed in
source form, and the README is more likely to contain user-oriented
material like last-minute documentation changes, error workarounds, and
restrictions. When asked, hackers invariably relate the README convention
to the famous scene in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures In
Wonderland in which Alice confronts magic munchies labeled
“Eat Me” and “Drink Me”.
The file may be named README, or READ.ME, or rarely ReadMe or
readme.txt or some other variant. The all-upper-case spellings,
however, are universal among Unix programmers. By ancient tradition,
real source files have all-lowercase names and all-uppercase is
reserved for metadata, comments, and grafitti. This is functional;
because 'A' sorts before 'a' in ASCII, the README will appear in directory
listings before any source file.