doc: add project goal

README.md

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+partdb is an electronic parts manager.
+
+goals
+=====
+
+I wished for a part manager with the following properties:
+
+- self hosted: I do not wish to rely on an external service (which could become unreachable or simply disappear)
+- web interface: this removes the need of yet another window running while designing boards, and just integrates well with the remaining part searching activity (e.g. on manufacturer and distributor web pages)
+- customizable: simply because everyone has a different designing work flow, and wants to optimize their tools according to it (particularly myself)
+
+One matching solution I found is [PartKeepr](https://partkeepr.org/).
+I used it for several year, and it could still be OK for my needs.
+But some aspects are just not that optimal anymore:
+
+- it is not developed anymore since 2018 (a docker image keeps it runnable)
+- logging in, and searching for parts is slow
+- customizing it is really hard (views, features, ...)
+- you always have to edit the part and click several times to copy any kind of value
+
+I recently also discovered [Binner](https://binner.io/).
+It does not allow to add custom part properties, or third parties distributors.
+But it's a young project and seems promising.
+
+Because they did not fit by power user demands, I decided to implement my own solution.
+partdb is very crude, but it works, particularly for me.
+
+components
+==========
+
+Part information is:
+
+- stored in a MariaDB/mySQL database
+- retrieved using a sinatra HTTP/REST server
+- displayed using minimal HTML+JS pages
+
+installation
+============
+
+install software dependencies (here for Arch linux):
+
+~~~
+sudo pacman -S mariadb
+sudo pacman -S ruby-sinatra ruby-webrick
+pikaur -S ruby-mysql2
+~~~
+
+configure database
+
+~~~
+sudo mariadb-install-db --user=mysql --basedir=/usr --datadir=/var/lib/mysql
+sudo mysql
+CREATE DATABASE partdb;
+CREATE USER 'partdb'@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
+GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON partdb.* TO 'partdb'@localhost;
+exit
+mysql --user=partdb --password=password --database=partdb < schema.sql
+~~~
+
+put the database access information in `credentials.json` and run `server.rb`.
+now go to http://localhost:4244 and you are ready to use it.