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@@ -1,3 +1,22 @@
 ##Translations
 
 Please do not submit issues or pull requests for translation fixes. Anyone can update the translations in [Transifex](https://www.transifex.com/projects/p/textsecure-official/). Please submit your corrections there.
+
+## Development Ideology
+
+Truths which we believe to be self-evident:
+
+1. **The answer is not more options.**  If you feel compelled to add a
+   preference that's exposed to the user, it's very possible you've made
+   a wrong turn somewhere.
+1. **The user doesn't know what a key is.**  We need to minimize the points
+   at which a user is exposed to this sort of terminology as extremely as
+   possible.
+1. **There are no power users.** The idea that some users "understand"
+   concepts better than others has proven to be, for the most part, false.
+   If anything, "power users" are more dangerous than the rest, and we
+   should avoid exposing dangerous functionality to them.
+1. **It's an asynchronous world.**  Be wary of anything that is
+   anti-asynchronous: ACKs, protocol confirmations, or any protocol-level
+   "advisory" message.
+