diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..796d153
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+*~
+*.o
+*.a
+*.so
+*.gch
+*.exe
+*.lib.a
+Makefile
+/bin
+/build
+/lib
diff --git a/README b/README
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f2d375e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+bfirm: a configurable build project for libfirm