--- /dev/null
+
+Guidelines
+==========
+
+When contributing to the Mono project, please follow the [Mono Coding
+Guidelines][1]. We have been using a coding style for many years,
+please make your patches conform to these guidelines.
+
+[1] http://www.mono-project.com/Coding_Guidelines
+
+Etiquette
+=========
+
+In general, we do not accept patches that merely shuffle code around,
+split classes in multiple files, reindent the code or are the result
+of running a refactoring tool on the source code. This is done for
+three reasons: (a) we have our own coding guidelines; (b) Some modules
+are imported from upstream sources and we want to respect their coding
+guidelines and (c) it destroys valuable history that is often used to
+investigate bugs, regressions and problems.
+
+License
+=======
+
+The Mono project uses the MIT X11, GNU LGPL version 2 and the Apache
+License 2.0. We also imported some Microsoft code licensed under the
+open source Microsoft Public License.
+
+Different parts of Mono use different licenses. The actual details of
+which licenses are used for which parts are detailed on the LICENSE
+file in this directory.
+
+When contributing code, make sure that your contribution falls under
+the appropriate license. For example, contributions to code licensed
+under MIT X11 code, should be MIT X11 code.
+
+The Runtime is a special case. The code is dual licensed by Xamarin
+under both the GNU LGPL v2 license and is also available under
+commercial terms. For the runtime, you should either sign an
+agreement that grants Xamarin the rights to relicense your code under
+other licenses other than the LGPL v2 or your contribution must be
+made as an MIT X11 license which grants us the same rights, but
+involves no paperwork.
+
+Submitting Patches
+==================
+
+When Submitting patches to the dual-licensed portions, please specify
+on the commit the license that the code is under.