diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL
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--- a/INSTALL
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,51 +0,0 @@
-calibre supports installation from source, only on Linux. 
-
-Note that you *do not* need to install from source to hack on
-the calibre source code. To get started with calibre development,
-use a normal calibre install and follow the instructions at
-https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/develop.html
-
-On Linux, there are two kinds of installation from source possible.
-Note that both kinds require lots of dependencies as well as a
-full development environment (compilers, headers files, etc.) 
-
-All installation related functions are accessed by the command::
-
-    python setup.py
-
-Install
-==========
-
-The first type of install will actually "install" calibre to
-your computer by putting its files into the system in the following locations:
-
-  - Binaries (actually python wrapper scripts) in <prefix>/bin
-  - Python and C modules in <prefix>/lib/calibre
-  - Resources like icons, etc. in <prefix>/share/calibre
-
-This type of install can be run by the command::
-
-    sudo python setup.py install
-
-<prefix> is normally the installation prefix of python, usually /usr.
-It can be controlled by the --prefix option. See
-  
-   python setup.py install -h 
-
-for details.
-
-Develop
-=============
-
-This type of install is designed to let you run calibre from your home directory,
-making it easy to hack on it.
-It will only install binaries into /usr/bin, but all the actual code and resource
-files will be read from the calibre source tree in your home directory
-(or wherever you choose to put it).
-
-This type of install can be run with the command::
-
-    sudo python setup.py develop
-
-Use the -h flag for help on the develop command.
-
diff --git a/INSTALL.rst b/INSTALL.rst
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+**calibre** supports installation from source, only on Linux. If you want to
+create installers for Windows or macOS, instructions can be found at
+https://github.com/kovidgoyal/build-calibre
+
+Note that you *do not* need to install from source to hack on the calibre
+source code. To get started with calibre development, use a normal calibre
+install and follow the instructions at
+https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/develop.html
+
+On Linux, there are two kinds of installation from source possible. Note that
+both kinds require lots of dependencies as well as a full development
+environment (compilers, headers files, etc.)
+
+All installation related functions are accessed by the command::
+
+    python2 setup.py
+
+For details on what functions are available, see::
+
+    python2 setup.py -h
+
+Or for help on any individual functions, see::
+
+    python2 setup.py <function> -h
+
+Note that many of these functions are only useful for creating official release
+compilations.
+
+Prerequisites
+=============
+
+In order to install calibre, you will need:
+
+  - The system dependencies listed at the bottom of
+    https://calibre-ebook.com/download_linux
+
+  - Either the raw source code available from git, or the release source code
+    available at https://download.calibre-ebook.com (preferred). There is a big
+    difference between the two, as the raw sources do not include several
+    pre-compiled resources, for example localizations and MathJax support.
+
+    For anyone familiar with autotools builds, this is somewhat similar to the
+    difference between configure.ac in git and the dist tarball after
+    autoreconf is run. i.e. users are generally expected to use the latter.
+
+Build
+=====
+
+In order to bootstrap the raw git sources to a release-ready state, run the
+command::
+
+    python2 setup.py bootstrap
+
+In order to compile the C/C++ extensions etc. for a release-ready tarball
+(these functions are already included by the bootstrap function), run the
+commands::
+
+    python2 setup.py build
+    python2 setup.py gui
+
+Install
+==========
+
+The first type of install will actually "install" calibre to your computer by
+putting its files into the system in the following locations:
+
+  - Binaries (actually python wrapper scripts) in <prefix>/bin
+  - Python and C modules in <prefix>/lib/calibre
+  - Resources like icons, etc. in <prefix>/share/calibre
+
+This type of install can be run by the command::
+
+    sudo python2 setup.py install
+
+<prefix> is normally the installation prefix of python, usually /usr.  It can
+be controlled by the --prefix option.
+
+For distro packagers, DESTDIR support is implemented via the --staging-root
+option, usually ${DESTDIR}/usr.
+
+Develop
+=============
+
+This type of install is designed to let you run calibre from your home
+directory, making it easy to hack on it.
+
+It will only install binaries into /usr/bin, but all the actual code and
+resource files will be read from the calibre source tree in your home directory
+(or wherever you choose to put it).
+
+This type of install can be run with the command::
+
+    sudo python2 setup.py develop