diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2a0184a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/INSTALL
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+There are 5 files you need to touch/copy 
+
+    example.conf
+    example.gitosis-lite.rc
+    gl-auth-command
+    gl-compile-conf
+    update-hook.pl
+
+1.  copy `example.gitosis-lite.rc` as `~/.gitosis-lite.rc`.  This location is
+    fixed for now (maybe later I'll change it to a "git config" variable).
+
+2.  edit `~/.gitosis-lite.rc` and change all the paths however you want.  Be
+    sure to keep the perl syntax -- you *don't* have to know perl to do so,
+    it's fairly easy to guess in this limited case.
+
+3.  copy `example.conf` to whatever path you specified for `GL_CONF` in the rc
+    file in step 2.  By default it is `~/.gitosis-lite/gitosis-lite.conf`.
+
+    Edit the file as you wish.  The comments in the file ought to be clear
+    enough but let me know if not
+
+4.  create directories for whatever you named in `GL_KEYDIR` and `REPO_BASE`
+    (default `~/.gitosis-lite/keydir` and `~/repositories`)
+
+5.  copy `update-hook.pl` to `$GL_ADMINDIR` (default `~/.gitosis-lite`)
diff --git a/README.markdown b/README.markdown
index d63b62d..53413f6 100644
--- a/README.markdown
+++ b/README.markdown
@@ -4,9 +4,7 @@ In this document:
 
   * "lite"?
   * what's extra
-  * whats missing/TODO
   * workflow
-  * conf file example
 
 ----
 
@@ -45,10 +43,6 @@ git.git:Documentation/howto/update-hook-example.txt.  I think this is the most
 significant extra I have.  This includes not just who can push to what branch,
 but also whether they are allowed to rewind it or not (non-ff push).
 
-### what's missing/TODO
-
-See TODO file
-
 ### workflow
 
 I took the opportunity to change the workflow significantly.
diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
index c3bfd57..7f3a611 100644
--- a/TODO
+++ b/TODO
@@ -7,3 +7,5 @@
     it's sorta moot right now, but it's worth trying
 
   * change the "rc" file to use "gitconfig" instead...
+
+  * check user/group names with some suitable regex
diff --git a/example.gitosis-lite.rc b/example.gitosis-lite.rc
index 2e9db31..ddbcca8 100644
--- a/example.gitosis-lite.rc
+++ b/example.gitosis-lite.rc
@@ -1,14 +1,20 @@
 # this is meant to be pulled into a perl program using "do"
 
-# gitosis-lite admin directory, files, etc
-$GL_ADMINDIR=$ENV{HOME} . "/.gitosis-lite";
-$GL_CONF="$GL_ADMINDIR/gitosis-lite.conf";
-$GL_KEYDIR="$GL_ADMINDIR/keydir";
-    # this one has to agree with the other programs, watch out:
-$GL_CONF_COMPILED=$ENV{HOME} . "/.ssh/gitosis-lite.conf-compiled.pm";
-
 # base directory for all the repos
 $REPO_BASE="repositories";
 
-# this should be the last line in this file
+# gitosis-lite admin directory, files, etc
+$GL_ADMINDIR=$ENV{HOME} . "/.gitosis-lite";
+
+# --------------------------------------
+
+# the ones below can be left as they are, unless for some reason you want them
+# elsewhere
+
+$GL_CONF="$GL_ADMINDIR/gitosis-lite.conf";
+$GL_KEYDIR="$GL_ADMINDIR/keydir";
+$GL_CONF_COMPILED="$GL_ADMINDIR/gitosis-lite.conf-compiled.pm";
+
+# --------------------------------------
+# this should be the last line in this file, per perl rules
 1;