Add README.md

README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+# Trillian Tessera
+
+[![Slack Status](https://img.shields.io/badge/Slack-Chat-blue.svg)](https://transparency-dev.slack.com/)
+
+Trillian Tessera is a Go library for building
+[tile-based transparency logs (tlogs)](https://github.com/C2SP/C2SP/blob/main/tlog-tiles.md).
+It is the logical successor to the approach Trillian v1 takes in building and operating logs.
+
+The implementation and its APIs bake-in
+[current best-practices based on the lessons learned](https://transparency.dev/articles/tile-based-logs/)
+over the past decade of building and operating transparency logs in production environments and at scale.
+
+Tessera goals:
+
+*   [Tiles-native API](https://github.com/C2SP/C2SP/blob/main/tlog-tiles.md) and storage
+*   Support for both cloud and on-premises infrastructure
+    *   GCP and AWS support will be provided initially
+    *   Cloud agnostic MySQL and POSIX filesystem support
+*   Make it easy to build and deploy new transparency logs on supported infrastructure
+    *   Library instead of microservice architecture
+    *   No additional services to manage
+    *   Lower TCO for operators compared with Trillian v1
+*   Fast sequencing and integration of entries
+*   Optional functionality which can be enabled for those ecosystems/logs which need it (only pay the cost for what you need):
+    *   "Best-effort" de-duplication of entries
+    *   Synchronous integration
+*   Broadly similar write-throughput and write-availability, and potentially _far_ higher read-throughput
+    and read-availability compared to Trillian v1 (dependent on underlying infrastructure)
+*   Enable building of arbitrary log personalities, including support for the peculiarities of a
+    [CT Tiles](https://github.com/C2SP/C2SP/blob/main/sunlight.md) compliant log.
+
+### Status
+
+Tessera is currently under active development, and is not yet ready for general use. However, early
+feedback is welcome.
+
+### Roadmap
+
+Alpha expected by Q4 2024, and production ready in the first half of 2025.
+
+#### What’s happening to Trillian v1?
+
+[Trillian v1](https://github.com/google/trillian) is still in use in production environments by
+multiple organisations in multiple ecosystems, and is likely to remain so for the mid-term. 
+
+New ecosystems, or existing ecosystems looking to evolve, should strongly consider planning a
+migration to Tessera and adopting the patterns it encourages. 
+
+### Getting started
+
+#### Usage
+
+```go
+
+import (
+
+    "[github.com/transparency-dev/trillian-tessera](http://github.com/transparency-dev/trillian-tessera)"
+
+)
+
+// TODO…
+
+```
+
+### Contributing
+
+See [CONTRIBUTING.md](/CONTRIBUTING.md) for details.
+
+### License
+
+This repo is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license, see [LICENSE](/LICENSE) for details
+
+### Contact
+
+- Slack: https://transparency-dev.slack.com/ ([invitation](https://join.slack.com/t/transparency-dev/shared_invite/zt-27pkqo21d-okUFhur7YZ0rFoJVIOPznQ))
+- Mailing list: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/trillian-transparency
+
+### Acknowledgements
+
+Tessera builds upon the hard work, experience, and lessons from many _many_ folks involved in
+transparency ecosystems over the years.
+