docs: Update README and installation guide.

This is a general cleanup that also aims to link to the new
self-hosting page to provide added context.

README.md

@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ world, with 74+ people who have each contributed 100+ commits. With
 over 1000 contributors merging over 500 commits a month, Zulip is the
 largest and fastest growing open source team chat project.
 
+Come find us on the [development community chat](https://zulip.com/development-community/)!
+
 [![GitHub Actions build status](https://github.com/zulip/zulip/actions/workflows/zulip-ci.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/zulip/zulip/actions/workflows/zulip-ci.yml?query=branch%3Amain)
 [![coverage status](https://img.shields.io/codecov/c/github/zulip/zulip/main.svg)](https://codecov.io/gh/zulip/zulip)
 [![Mypy coverage](https://img.shields.io/badge/mypy-100%25-green.svg)][mypy-coverage]
@@ -30,58 +32,50 @@ largest and fastest growing open source team chat project.
 
 ## Getting started
 
-Click on the appropriate link below. If nothing seems to apply,
+- **Contributing code**. Check out our [guide for new
-join us on the
+  contributors](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview/contributing.html)
-[Zulip community server](https://zulip.com/development-community/)
+  to get started. We have invested into making Zulip’s code uniquely readable,
-and tell us what's up!
+  well tested, and easy to modify. Beyond that, we have written an extraordinary
+  150K words of documentation on how to contribute to Zulip.
 
-You might be interested in:
+- **Contributing non-code**. [Report an
+  issue](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview/contributing.html#reporting-issues),
+  [translate](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/translating/translating.html)
+  Zulip into your language, or [give us
+  feedback](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview/contributing.html#user-feedback).
+  We'd love to hear from you, whether you've been using Zulip for years, or are just
+  trying it out for the first time.
 
-- **Contributing code**. Check out our
+- **Checking Zulip out**. The best way to see Zulip in action is to drop by the
-  [guide for new contributors](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview/contributing.html)
+  [Zulip community server](https://zulip.com/development-community/). We also
-  to get started. Zulip prides itself on maintaining a clean and
+  recommend reading about Zulip's [unique
-  well-tested codebase, and a stock of hundreds of
+  approach](https://zulip.com/why-zulip/) to organizing conversations.
-  [beginner-friendly issues][beginner-friendly].
 
-- **Contributing non-code**.
+- **Running a Zulip server**. Self host Zulip directly on Ubuntu or Debian
-  [Report an issue](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview/contributing.html#reporting-issues),
+  Linux, in [Docker](https://github.com/zulip/docker-zulip), or with prebuilt
-  [translate](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/translating/translating.html) Zulip
+  images for [Digital Ocean](https://marketplace.digitalocean.com/apps/zulip) and
-  into your language,
+  [Render](https://render.com/docs/deploy-zulip).
-  [write](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview/contributing.html#zulip-outreach)
+  Learn more about [self-hosting Zulip](https://zulip.com/self-hosting/).
-  for the Zulip blog, or
-  [give us feedback](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview/contributing.html#user-feedback). We
-  would love to hear from you, even if you're just trying the product out.
 
-- **Supporting Zulip**. Advocate for your organization to use Zulip, become a [sponsor](https://github.com/sponsors/zulip), write a
+- **Using Zulip without setting up a server**. Learn about [Zulip
-  review in the mobile app stores, or
+  Cloud](https://zulip.com/plans/) hosting options. Zulip sponsors free [Zulip
-  [upvote Zulip](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview/contributing.html#zulip-outreach) on
+  Cloud Standard](https://zulip.com/plans/) for hundreds of worthy
-  product comparison sites.
+  organizations, including [fellow open-source
-
+  projects](https://zulip.com/for/open-source/).
-- **Checking Zulip out**. The best way to see Zulip in action is to drop by
-  the
-  [Zulip community server](https://zulip.com/development-community/). We
-  also recommend reading Zulip for
-  [open source](https://zulip.com/for/open-source/), Zulip for
-  [companies](https://zulip.com/for/companies/), or Zulip for
-  [communities](https://zulip.com/for/working-groups-and-communities/).
-
-- **Running a Zulip server**. Use a preconfigured [DigitalOcean droplet](https://marketplace.digitalocean.com/apps/zulip),
-  [install Zulip](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/stable/production/install.html)
-  directly, or use Zulip's
-  experimental [Docker image](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/production/deployment.html#zulip-in-docker).
-  Commercial support is available; see <https://zulip.com/plans> for details.
-
-- **Using Zulip without setting up a server**. <https://zulip.com>
-  offers free and commercial hosting, including providing our paid
-  plan for free to fellow open source projects.
 
 - **Participating in [outreach
   programs](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview/contributing.html#outreach-programs)**
-  like Google Summer of Code.
+  like [Google Summer of Code](https://developers.google.com/open-source/gsoc/)
+  and [Outreachy](https://www.outreachy.org/).
+
+- **Supporting Zulip**. Advocate for your organization to use Zulip, become a
+  [sponsor](https://github.com/sponsors/zulip), write a review in the mobile app
+  stores, or [help others find
+  Zulip](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview/contributing.html#help-others-find-zulip).
+
+You may also be interested in reading our [blog](https://blog.zulip.org/), and
+following us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/zulip) and
+[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/zulip-project/).
 
-You may also be interested in reading our [blog](https://blog.zulip.org/) or
-following us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/zulip).
 Zulip is distributed under the
 [Apache 2.0](https://github.com/zulip/zulip/blob/main/LICENSE) license.
-
-[beginner-friendly]: https://github.com/zulip/zulip/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22good+first+issue%22

docs/production/index.md

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ maxdepth: 3
 ---
 
 requirements
-Installing a production server <install>
+install
 troubleshooting
 management-commands
 settings

docs/production/install.md

@@ -1,16 +1,27 @@
-# Production installation
+# Install a Zulip server
 
-You'll need an Ubuntu or Debian system that satisfies
+## Before you begin
+
+To install a Zulip server, you'll need an Ubuntu or Debian system that satisfies
 [the installation requirements](requirements.md). Alternatively,
 you can use a preconfigured
 [DigitalOcean droplet](https://marketplace.digitalocean.com/apps/zulip?refcode=3ee45da8ee26), or
 Zulip's
 [experimental Docker image](deployment.md#zulip-in-docker).
 
-Note that if you're developing for Zulip, you should install Zulip's
+### Should I follow this installation guide?
-[development environment](../development/overview.md) instead. If
+
-you're just looking to play around with Zulip and see what it looks like,
+- If you are just looking to play around with Zulip and see what it looks like,
-you can create a test organization at <https://zulip.com/new>.
+  you can create a test Zulip Cloud organization at <https://zulip.com/new>.
+
+- If you are deciding between self-hosting Zulip and signing up for [Zulip Cloud](https://zulip.com/plans/),
+  our [self-hosing overview](https://zulip.com/self-hosting/) and [guide to
+  choosing between Zulip Cloud and
+  self-hosting](https://zulip.com/help/getting-your-organization-started-with-zulip#choosing-between-zulip-cloud-and-self-hosting)
+  are great places to start.
+
+- If you're developing for Zulip, you should follow the instructions
+  to install Zulip's [development environment](../development/overview.md).
 
 ## Step 1: Download the latest release