diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 11b363d4..fc2dde45 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 __pycache__
 .pytest_cache
 *.egg-info
+python/dist
 
 # ignore Codeblocks temporary files and build directories.
 # Codeblocks project file (*.cbp) is added although it may contain some user preferences (eg. program's arguments), it may be useful for some people
@@ -50,3 +51,8 @@ capi.abi3.so
 # ignore build directory
 builddir/
 python/build
+
+# ignore python binding stuff
+python/src/deltachat/capi*so
+
+.*.swp
diff --git a/python/README.rst b/python/README.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..36e3a4bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/README.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+
+deltachat python bindings
+=========================
+
+This package provides bindings to the delta-core_ C-library
+which provides imap/smtp/crypto handling as well as chat/group/messages
+handling to Android, Desktop and IO user interfaces.
+
+Install
+-------
+
+.. note::
+
+    Currently the install instructions exist only for Debian based systems (Ubuntu etc.).
+
+First you need to execute all the build steps to install the delta-core C-library,
+see https://github.com/deltachat/deltachat-core/blob/master/README.md#build
+
+Next, you need to do perform::
+
+    pip install -e .
+
+Afterwards you should be able to successfully import the bindings::
+
+    python -c "import deltachat"
+
+
+Running tests
+-------------
+
+Install the delta-core C-library (see _Install) and then
+type the following to execute tests::
+
+    pip install tox
+    tox
+
+If you want to run functional tests that run against real
+e-mail accounts, generate a "liveconfig" file where each
+lines contains account settings, for example::
+
+    # liveconfig file for specifying real-life accounts
+    addr=some-email@example.org mail_pw=password
+    addr=other-email@example.org mail_pw=otherpassword
+
+And then run the tests with this live-accounts config file::
+
+    tox -- --liveconfig liveconfig
+
+
+.. _`delta-core`: https://github.com/deltachat/deltachat-core
diff --git a/python/setup.cfg b/python/setup.cfg
index 5326e01e..31258c90 100644
--- a/python/setup.cfg
+++ b/python/setup.cfg
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 [devpi:upload]
 formats = sdist.tgz,bdist_wheel
+no-vcs = 1
diff --git a/python/setup.py b/python/setup.py
index 0685271e..f9aa146e 100644
--- a/python/setup.py
+++ b/python/setup.py
@@ -1,22 +1,30 @@
 import setuptools
 
+def main():
+    with open('README.rst') as fd:
+        long_description = fd.read()
+
+    setuptools.setup(
+        name='deltachat',
+        version='0.1',
+        description='Python bindings for deltachat-core using CFFI',
+        long_description = long_description,
+        author='Delta Chat contributors',
+        setup_requires=['cffi>=1.0.0'],
+        install_requires=['cffi>=1.0.0', 'requests'],
+        packages=setuptools.find_packages('src'),
+        package_dir={'': 'src'},
+        cffi_modules=['src/deltachat/_build.py:ffibuilder'],
+        classifiers=[
+            'Development Status :: 3 - Alpha',
+            'Intended Audience :: Developers',
+            'License :: OSI Approved :: GNU General Public License (GPL)',
+            'Programming Language :: Python :: 3',
+            'Topic :: Communications :: Email',
+            'Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries',
+        ],
+    )
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
 
-setuptools.setup(
-    name='deltachat',
-    version='0.1',
-    description='Python bindings for deltachat-core using CFFI',
-    author='Delta Chat contributors',
-    setup_requires=['cffi>=1.0.0'],
-    install_requires=['cffi>=1.0.0', 'requests'],
-    packages=setuptools.find_packages('src'),
-    package_dir={'': 'src'},
-    cffi_modules=['src/deltachat/_build.py:ffibuilder'],
-    classifiers=[
-        'Development Status :: 3 - Alpha',
-        'Intended Audience :: Developers',
-        'License :: OSI Approved :: GNU General Public License (GPL)',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3',
-        'Topic :: Communications :: Email',
-        'Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries',
-    ],
-)
diff --git a/python/tox.ini b/python/tox.ini
index fad05120..6bae32f2 100644
--- a/python/tox.ini
+++ b/python/tox.ini
@@ -22,17 +22,15 @@ deps =
     flake8
     # pygments required by rst-lint
     pygments
-    restructuredtext_lint
+    restructuredtext_lint 
 commands =
     flake8 src/deltachat
     flake8 tests/
-    # {envpython} scripts/check-rst.py
+    rst-lint --encoding 'utf-8' README.rst
 
 [pytest]
-minversion = 2.0
-#--pyargs --doctest-modules --ignore=.tox
 python_files = tests/test_*.py 
-norecursedirs = .tox ja .hg cx_freeze_source
+norecursedirs = .tox 
 xfail_strict=true
 
 [flake8]