From 1fda62ed3396f16baebd78dde67e4fb0e8b37c97 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Dan Gohman <sunfish@mozilla.com>
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2018 04:13:01 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Flesh out the README.md with more specific goals.

---
 README.md | 39 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----------
 1 file changed, 29 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d91995d037..5bb24b041f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 # Wasmtime: a WebAssembly Runtime.
 
-A standalone wasm-only runtime for [WebAssembly], using [Cranelift].
+Wasmtime is a standalone wasm-only runtime for [WebAssembly], using the [Cranelift] JIT.
+
+It runs WebAssembly code [outside of the Web], and can be used both as a command-line
+utility or as a library embedded in a larger application.
+
+[WebAssembly]: https://webassembly.org/
+[Cranelift]: https://github.com/CraneStation/cranelift
+[outside of the Web]: https://webassembly.org/docs/non-web/
 
 [![Travis Status](https://travis-ci.org/CraneStation/wasmtime.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/CraneStation/wasmtime)
 [![Appveyor Status](https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/status/vxvpt2plriy5s0mc?svg=true)](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/CraneStation/cranelift)
@@ -9,19 +16,31 @@ A standalone wasm-only runtime for [WebAssembly], using [Cranelift].
 
 *This is a work in progress that is not currently functional, but under active development.*
 
-Goals include:
- - Be a general-purpose engine for running WebAssembly code [outside of browsers],
-   usable both standalone or as a library embedded in a larger application.
- - Support a variety of host APIs with fast calling sequences.
- - Prototype syscall APIs that can be proposed for use in the WebAssembly
+One goal for this project is to implement [CloudABI](https://cloudabi.org/) using
+WebAssembly as the code format, provide [CloudABI system calls] as WebAssembly
+host imports, and then port the [Rust CloudABI package] and [CloudABI libc] to it
+to support Rust, C, C++, and other toolchains.
+
+CloudABI is a natural complement for WebAssembly, since WebAssembly provides
+sandboxing for code but doesn't have any builtin I/O, and CloudABI provides
+sandboxed I/O.
+
+[CloudABI]: https://cloudabi.org/
+[CloudABI system calls]: https://github.com/NuxiNL/cloudabi#specification-of-the-abi
+[Rust CloudABI package]: https://crates.io/crates/cloudabi
+[CloudABI libc]: https://github.com/NuxiNL/cloudlibc
+
+Additional goals for Wasmtime include:
+ - Support a variety of host APIs (not just CloudABI), with fast calling sequences,
+   and develop proposals for system calls in the WebAssembly
    [Reference Sysroot](https://github.com/WebAssembly/reference-sysroot).
+ - Implement the [proposed WebAssembly C API].
  - Facilitate testing, experimentation, and development around the [Cranelift] and
    [Lightbeam] JITs.
- - Develop a the native ABI used for compiling WebAssembly suitable for use in
-   both JIT and AOT to native object files.
+ - Develop a the native ABI used for compiling WebAssembly suitable for use in both
+   JIT and AOT to native object files.
 
-[WebAssembly]: https://webassembly.org/
-[outside of browsers]: https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/blob/master/NonWeb.md
+[proposed WebAssembly C API]: https://github.com/rossberg/wasm-c-api
 [Cranelift]: https://github.com/CraneStation/cranelift
 [Lightbeam]: https://github.com/CraneStation/lightbeam