diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 567d96bab9..ab2dfba53f 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -18,6 +18,15 @@ Although the act of running puppet on these hosts is managed by
 Ansible, the actual core of their orchestration lives in ``manifests``
 and ``modules``.
 
+The files in this repository are provided as an opinionated example
+service deployment, and to allow the OpenDev Collaboratory to use public
+software development workflows in order to coordinate changes and
+improvements to the systems it runs. This repository is not intended as
+a reconsumable project on its own, and anyone wishing to adjust it to
+suit their own needs should do so with a fork. The system-config
+reviewers are unable to evaluate and support use cases for the contents
+here other than their own.
+
 Testing
 -------
 
@@ -60,7 +69,13 @@ automatically tested, reviewed by humans and, once accepted, deployed
 automatically.
 
 Bug fixes or modifications to existing code are great places to start,
-and you will see the results of your changes in CI testing.
+and you will see the results of your changes in CI testing. Please
+remember that this repository consists of configuration and
+orchestration for OpenDev Collaboratory production systems, so
+contributions to it will be evaluated on the basis of whether they're
+useful or applicable to OpenDev's services. Changes intended to make the
+contents more easily reusable outside OpenDev itself are not in scope,
+and so will be rejected by reviewers.
 
 You can develop all the playbooks, roles, containers and testing
 required for a new service just by uploading a change.  Using a