From bd6e7367983fcb478d336f207f31588535d941c6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: cproudlock <cproudlock@localhost>
Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2026 12:41:52 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Say on the front page that a site runs containers

The README gave Windows/IIS and Docker equal billing, and led with the installer
under "Fast path (Docker)" - which reads as though the slower, more official
route is the .exe. That is backwards now: Docker is what a new site gets and
IIS is the legacy path, supported for the sites already on it.

Changed where a reader looks first: two lines under the title saying a site runs
containers, Distribution naming the installer as legacy, and the Docker section
retitled "Standing up a site" rather than a fast path. The venv instructions are
marked development-only, because they are for working on ShopDB rather than
running it.

Nothing about the IIS material was removed. It is what production runs today.
---
 README.md | 36 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------------
 1 file changed, 24 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 88d2d512..ce03d666 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 A modern rewrite of the classic ASP/VBScript ShopDB application using Flask (Python) and Vue 3. This application manages shop floor machines, PCs, printers, applications, and related infrastructure for manufacturing environments.
 
+**A site runs ShopDB as containers.** `docker compose up -d --build`, then the
+first-run wizard at `/setup`. The Windows/IIS installer is the legacy route,
+supported for the sites already on it and not the path for a new one.
+
 ## Overview
 
 ShopDB tracks and manages:
@@ -108,12 +112,12 @@ SQLite). Do not run dev or production against SQLite.
 
 ### Distribution
 
-Source lives here. The Windows installer ships as a release asset rather than a
-file in the repository - it is around 240 MB, well past what a repository takes
-and well inside what a release asset does. There is no package or image
-registry; a site installs from that `.exe` or builds from source.
+Source lives here, and a site runs it as containers. The Windows installer is
+the LEGACY route: it ships as a release asset rather than a file in the
+repository (around 240 MB), and it exists for the sites already running that
+way. New sites do not use it.
 
-### Fast path (Docker)
+### Standing up a site (Docker)
 
 The Docker image builds the Vue frontend and serves it from the API container,
 so a container deploy needs no separate Node build step.
@@ -140,7 +144,9 @@ admin headlessly instead of using the wizard:
 docker compose exec api flask seed admin --username admin --email admin@facility.example.com
 ```
 
-### Manual path (venv + Node)
+### Manual path (venv + Node) - development only
+
+For working on ShopDB itself. A site runs the containers above.
 
 ```bash
 # Backend
@@ -179,18 +185,24 @@ example of the whole sequence.
 
 ### Which deployment route
 
+**Docker is the supported route for a new site.** Windows/IIS is legacy: it is
+what several sites run today, it stays supported, and it will be deprecated.
+Nothing new is built for it.
+
 | Target | Use |
 |---|---|
-| **Windows Server + IIS** (how sister sites run) | **the INSTALL-WINDOWS page in the project wiki** - one installer `.exe`, offline, no manual IIS work. Day 2: the OPERATE-WINDOWS page in the project wiki |
-| Linux / Docker, air-gapped | the DEPLOY-AIRGAP page in the project wiki |
-| Linux / Docker, connected | the DEPLOY page in the project wiki |
+| **Docker, connected** | **the DEPLOY page in the project wiki** |
+| **Docker, air-gapped** | **the DEPLOY-AIRGAP page in the project wiki** |
+| Windows Server + IIS (existing sites) | the INSTALL-WINDOWS page in the project wiki - one installer `.exe`, offline. Day 2: OPERATE-WINDOWS |
+| Moving off IIS onto Docker | the MIGRATE-TOPOLOGY page in the project wiki |
 
 For every environment variable and Setting key see the CONFIG page in the project wiki.
 
-### What the Windows installer requires
+### What the Windows installer requires (legacy route)
 
-The installer checks all of this before it changes anything and refuses rather
-than half-installing.
+For sites already on Windows/IIS. A new site should be reading the DEPLOY page
+instead. The installer checks all of this before it changes anything and refuses
+rather than half-installing.
 
 | | Minimum | Notes |
 |---|---|---|