diff --git a/CODING_STYLE b/CODING_STYLE.rst
similarity index 72%
rename from CODING_STYLE
rename to CODING_STYLE.rst
index cb8edcbb36..713357cb80 100644
--- a/CODING_STYLE
+++ b/CODING_STYLE.rst
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
+=================
 QEMU Coding Style
 =================
 
+.. contents:: Table of Contents
+
 Please use the script checkpatch.pl in the scripts directory to check
 patches before submitting.
 
-1. Whitespace
+Whitespace
+==========
 
 Of course, the most important aspect in any coding style is whitespace.
 Crusty old coders who have trouble spotting the glasses on their noses
@@ -16,26 +20,27 @@ QEMU indents are four spaces.  Tabs are never used, except in Makefiles
 where they have been irreversibly coded into the syntax.
 Spaces of course are superior to tabs because:
 
- - You have just one way to specify whitespace, not two.  Ambiguity breeds
-   mistakes.
- - The confusion surrounding 'use tabs to indent, spaces to justify' is gone.
- - Tab indents push your code to the right, making your screen seriously
-   unbalanced.
- - Tabs will be rendered incorrectly on editors who are misconfigured not
-   to use tab stops of eight positions.
- - Tabs are rendered badly in patches, causing off-by-one errors in almost
-   every line.
- - It is the QEMU coding style.
+* You have just one way to specify whitespace, not two.  Ambiguity breeds
+  mistakes.
+* The confusion surrounding 'use tabs to indent, spaces to justify' is gone.
+* Tab indents push your code to the right, making your screen seriously
+  unbalanced.
+* Tabs will be rendered incorrectly on editors who are misconfigured not
+  to use tab stops of eight positions.
+* Tabs are rendered badly in patches, causing off-by-one errors in almost
+  every line.
+* It is the QEMU coding style.
 
 Do not leave whitespace dangling off the ends of lines.
 
-1.1 Multiline Indent
+Multiline Indent
+----------------
 
 There are several places where indent is necessary:
 
- - if/else
- - while/for
- - function definition & call
+* if/else
+* while/for
+* function definition & call
 
 When breaking up a long line to fit within line width, we need a proper indent
 for the following lines.
@@ -45,6 +50,8 @@ opening parenthesis of the first.
 
 For example:
 
+.. code-block:: c
+
     if (a == 1 &&
         b == 2) {
 
@@ -53,12 +60,13 @@ For example:
 
 In case of function, there are several variants:
 
-    * 4 spaces indent from the beginning
-    * align the secondary lines just after the opening parenthesis of the
-      first
+* 4 spaces indent from the beginning
+* align the secondary lines just after the opening parenthesis of the first
 
 For example:
 
+.. code-block:: c
+
     do_something(x, y,
         z);
 
@@ -68,7 +76,8 @@ For example:
     do_something(x, do_another(y,
                                z));
 
-2. Line width
+Line width
+==========
 
 Lines should be 80 characters; try not to make them longer.
 
@@ -77,16 +86,18 @@ that use long function or symbol names.  Even in that case, do not make
 lines much longer than 80 characters.
 
 Rationale:
- - Some people like to tile their 24" screens with a 6x4 matrix of 80x24
-   xterms and use vi in all of them.  The best way to punish them is to
-   let them keep doing it.
- - Code and especially patches is much more readable if limited to a sane
-   line length.  Eighty is traditional.
- - The four-space indentation makes the most common excuse ("But look
-   at all that white space on the left!") moot.
- - It is the QEMU coding style.
 
-3. Naming
+* Some people like to tile their 24" screens with a 6x4 matrix of 80x24
+  xterms and use vi in all of them.  The best way to punish them is to
+  let them keep doing it.
+* Code and especially patches is much more readable if limited to a sane
+  line length.  Eighty is traditional.
+* The four-space indentation makes the most common excuse ("But look
+  at all that white space on the left!") moot.
+* It is the QEMU coding style.
+
+Naming
+======
 
 Variables are lower_case_with_underscores; easy to type and read.  Structured
 type names are in CamelCase; harder to type but standing out.  Enum type
@@ -95,10 +106,11 @@ names are lower_case_with_underscores_ending_with_a_t, like the POSIX
 uint64_t and family.  Note that this last convention contradicts POSIX
 and is therefore likely to be changed.
 
-When wrapping standard library functions, use the prefix qemu_ to alert
+When wrapping standard library functions, use the prefix ``qemu_`` to alert
 readers that they are seeing a wrapped version; otherwise avoid this prefix.
 
-4. Block structure
+Block structure
+===============
 
 Every indented statement is braced; even if the block contains just one
 statement.  The opening brace is on the line that contains the control
@@ -106,6 +118,8 @@ flow statement that introduces the new block; the closing brace is on the
 same line as the else keyword, or on a line by itself if there is no else
 keyword.  Example:
 
+.. code-block:: c
+
     if (a == 5) {
         printf("a was 5.\n");
     } else if (a == 6) {
@@ -121,6 +135,8 @@ statement.
 An exception is the opening brace for a function; for reasons of tradition
 and clarity it comes on a line by itself:
 
+.. code-block:: c
+
     void a_function(void)
     {
         do_something();
@@ -130,7 +146,8 @@ Rationale: a consistent (except for functions...) bracing style reduces
 ambiguity and avoids needless churn when lines are added or removed.
 Furthermore, it is the QEMU coding style.
 
-5. Declarations
+Declarations
+============
 
 Mixed declarations (interleaving statements and declarations within
 blocks) are generally not allowed; declarations should be at the beginning
@@ -142,11 +159,14 @@ be placed at the top of the block even if there are statements above.
 On the other hand, however, it's often best to move that #ifdef/#ifndef
 block to a separate function altogether.
 
-6. Conditional statements
+Conditional statements
+======================
 
 When comparing a variable for (in)equality with a constant, list the
 constant on the right, as in:
 
+.. code-block:: c
+
     if (a == 1) {
         /* Reads like: "If a equals 1" */
         do_something();
@@ -156,19 +176,24 @@ Rationale: Yoda conditions (as in 'if (1 == a)') are awkward to read.
 Besides, good compilers already warn users when '==' is mis-typed as '=',
 even when the constant is on the right.
 
-7. Comment style
+Comment style
+=============
 
-We use traditional C-style /* */ comments and avoid // comments.
+We use traditional C-style /``*`` ``*``/ comments and avoid // comments.
 
 Rationale: The // form is valid in C99, so this is purely a matter of
 consistency of style. The checkpatch script will warn you about this.
 
 Multiline comment blocks should have a row of stars on the left,
-and the initial /* and terminating */ both on their own lines:
+and the initial /``*`` and terminating ``*``/ both on their own lines:
+
+.. code-block:: c
+
     /*
      * like
      * this
      */
+
 This is the same format required by the Linux kernel coding style.
 
 (Some of the existing comments in the codebase use the GNU Coding
@@ -180,24 +205,32 @@ comment anyway.)
 Rationale: Consistency, and ease of visually picking out a multiline
 comment from the surrounding code.
 
-8. trace-events style
+trace-events style
+==================
 
-8.1 0x prefix
+0x prefix
+---------
 
 In trace-events files, use a '0x' prefix to specify hex numbers, as in:
 
-some_trace(unsigned x, uint64_t y) "x 0x%x y 0x" PRIx64
+.. code-block::
+
+    some_trace(unsigned x, uint64_t y) "x 0x%x y 0x" PRIx64
 
 An exception is made for groups of numbers that are hexadecimal by
 convention and separated by the symbols '.', '/', ':', or ' ' (such as
 PCI bus id):
 
-another_trace(int cssid, int ssid, int dev_num) "bus id: %x.%x.%04x"
+.. code-block::
+
+    another_trace(int cssid, int ssid, int dev_num) "bus id: %x.%x.%04x"
 
 However, you can use '0x' for such groups if you want. Anyway, be sure that
 it is obvious that numbers are in hex, ex.:
 
-data_dump(uint8_t c1, uint8_t c2, uint8_t c3) "bytes (in hex): %02x %02x %02x"
+.. code-block::
+
+    data_dump(uint8_t c1, uint8_t c2, uint8_t c3) "bytes (in hex): %02x %02x %02x"
 
 Rationale: hex numbers are hard to read in logs when there is no 0x prefix,
 especially when (occasionally) the representation doesn't contain any letters
@@ -205,12 +238,14 @@ and especially in one line with other decimal numbers. Number groups are allowed
 to not use '0x' because for some things notations like %x.%x.%x are used not
 only in Qemu. Also dumping raw data bytes with '0x' is less readable.
 
-8.2 '#' printf flag
+'#' printf flag
+---------------
 
 Do not use printf flag '#', like '%#x'.
 
 Rationale: there are two ways to add a '0x' prefix to printed number: '0x%...'
 and '%#...'. For consistency the only one way should be used. Arguments for
 '0x%' are:
- - it is more popular
- - '%#' omits the 0x for the value 0 which makes output inconsistent
+
+* it is more popular
+* '%#' omits the 0x for the value 0 which makes output inconsistent
diff --git a/HACKING b/HACKING.rst
similarity index 79%
rename from HACKING
rename to HACKING.rst
index 097d482603..668fc420c3 100644
--- a/HACKING
+++ b/HACKING.rst
@@ -1,19 +1,32 @@
-1. Preprocessor
+============
+QEMU Hacking
+============
 
-1.1. Variadic macros
+.. contents:: Table of Contents
+
+Preprocessor
+============
+
+Variadic macros
+---------------
 
 For variadic macros, stick with this C99-like syntax:
 
-#define DPRINTF(fmt, ...)                                       \
-    do { printf("IRQ: " fmt, ## __VA_ARGS__); } while (0)
+.. code-block:: c
 
-1.2. Include directives
+    #define DPRINTF(fmt, ...)                                       \
+        do { printf("IRQ: " fmt, ## __VA_ARGS__); } while (0)
+
+Include directives
+------------------
 
 Order include directives as follows:
 
-#include "qemu/osdep.h"  /* Always first... */
-#include <...>           /* then system headers... */
-#include "..."           /* and finally QEMU headers. */
+.. code-block:: c
+
+    #include "qemu/osdep.h"  /* Always first... */
+    #include <...>           /* then system headers... */
+    #include "..."           /* and finally QEMU headers. */
 
 The "qemu/osdep.h" header contains preprocessor macros that affect the behavior
 of core system headers like <stdint.h>.  It must be the first include so that
@@ -23,12 +36,14 @@ that QEMU depends on.
 Do not include "qemu/osdep.h" from header files since the .c file will have
 already included it.
 
-2. C types
+C types
+=======
 
 It should be common sense to use the right type, but we have collected
 a few useful guidelines here.
 
-2.1. Scalars
+Scalars
+-------
 
 If you're using "int" or "long", odds are good that there's a better type.
 If a variable is counting something, it should be declared with an
@@ -68,8 +83,8 @@ it may be 32 or 64 bits depending on which target is being built. It should
 therefore be used only in target-specific code, and in some
 performance-critical built-per-target core code such as the TLB code.
 There is also a signed version, target_long.
-abi_ulong is for the *-user targets, and represents a type the size of
-'void *' in that target's ABI. (This may not be the same as the size of a
+abi_ulong is for the ``*``-user targets, and represents a type the size of
+'void ``*``' in that target's ABI. (This may not be the same as the size of a
 full CPU virtual address in the case of target ABIs which use 32 bit pointers
 on 64 bit CPUs, like sparc32plus.) Definitions of structures that must match
 the target's ABI must use this type for anything that on the target is defined
@@ -89,7 +104,8 @@ Finally, while using descriptive types is important, be careful not to
 go overboard.  If whatever you're doing causes warnings, or requires
 casts, then reconsider or ask for help.
 
-2.2. Pointers
+Pointers
+--------
 
 Ensure that all of your pointers are "const-correct".
 Unless a pointer is used to modify the pointed-to storage,
@@ -99,7 +115,8 @@ importantly, if we're diligent about this, when you see a non-const
 pointer, you're guaranteed that it is used to modify the storage
 it points to, or it is aliased to another pointer that is.
 
-2.3. Typedefs
+Typedefs
+--------
 
 Typedefs are used to eliminate the redundant 'struct' keyword, since type
 names have a different style than other identifiers ("CamelCase" versus
@@ -114,11 +131,14 @@ definitions instead of typedefs in headers and function prototypes; this
 avoids problems with duplicated typedefs and reduces the need to include
 headers from other headers.
 
-2.4. Reserved namespaces in C and POSIX
+Reserved namespaces in C and POSIX
+----------------------------------
+
 Underscore capital, double underscore, and underscore 't' suffixes should be
 avoided.
 
-3. Low level memory management
+Low level memory management
+===========================
 
 Use of the malloc/free/realloc/calloc/valloc/memalign/posix_memalign
 APIs is not allowed in the QEMU codebase. Instead of these routines,
@@ -130,36 +150,51 @@ Please note that g_malloc will exit on allocation failure, so there
 is no need to test for failure (as you would have to with malloc).
 Calling g_malloc with a zero size is valid and will return NULL.
 
-Prefer g_new(T, n) instead of g_malloc(sizeof(T) * n) for the following
+Prefer g_new(T, n) instead of g_malloc(sizeof(T) ``*`` n) for the following
 reasons:
 
-  a. It catches multiplication overflowing size_t;
-  b. It returns T * instead of void *, letting compiler catch more type
-     errors.
+* It catches multiplication overflowing size_t;
+* It returns T ``*`` instead of void ``*``, letting compiler catch more type errors.
+
+Declarations like
+
+.. code-block:: c
+
+    T *v = g_malloc(sizeof(*v))
 
-Declarations like T *v = g_malloc(sizeof(*v)) are acceptable, though.
+are acceptable, though.
 
 Memory allocated by qemu_memalign or qemu_blockalign must be freed with
 qemu_vfree, since breaking this will cause problems on Win32.
 
-4. String manipulation
+String manipulation
+===================
 
 Do not use the strncpy function.  As mentioned in the man page, it does *not*
 guarantee a NULL-terminated buffer, which makes it extremely dangerous to use.
 It also zeros trailing destination bytes out to the specified length.  Instead,
 use this similar function when possible, but note its different signature:
-void pstrcpy(char *dest, int dest_buf_size, const char *src)
+
+.. code-block:: c
+
+    void pstrcpy(char *dest, int dest_buf_size, const char *src)
 
 Don't use strcat because it can't check for buffer overflows, but:
-char *pstrcat(char *buf, int buf_size, const char *s)
+
+.. code-block:: c
+
+    char *pstrcat(char *buf, int buf_size, const char *s)
 
 The same limitation exists with sprintf and vsprintf, so use snprintf and
 vsnprintf.
 
 QEMU provides other useful string functions:
-int strstart(const char *str, const char *val, const char **ptr)
-int stristart(const char *str, const char *val, const char **ptr)
-int qemu_strnlen(const char *s, int max_len)
+
+.. code-block:: c
+
+    int strstart(const char *str, const char *val, const char **ptr)
+    int stristart(const char *str, const char *val, const char **ptr)
+    int qemu_strnlen(const char *s, int max_len)
 
 There are also replacement character processing macros for isxyz and toxyz,
 so instead of e.g. isalnum you should use qemu_isalnum.
@@ -167,7 +202,8 @@ so instead of e.g. isalnum you should use qemu_isalnum.
 Because of the memory management rules, you must use g_strdup/g_strndup
 instead of plain strdup/strndup.
 
-5. Printf-style functions
+Printf-style functions
+======================
 
 Whenever you add a new printf-style function, i.e., one with a format
 string argument and following "..." in its prototype, be sure to use
@@ -177,12 +213,14 @@ This makes it so gcc's -Wformat and -Wformat-security options can do
 their jobs and cross-check format strings with the number and types
 of arguments.
 
-6. C standard, implementation defined and undefined behaviors
+C standard, implementation defined and undefined behaviors
+==========================================================
 
 C code in QEMU should be written to the C99 language specification. A copy
 of the final version of the C99 standard with corrigenda TC1, TC2, and TC3
 included, formatted as a draft, can be downloaded from:
- http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/WG14/www/docs/n1256.pdf
+
+    `<http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/WG14/www/docs/n1256.pdf>`_
 
 The C language specification defines regions of undefined behavior and
 implementation defined behavior (to give compiler authors enough leeway to
@@ -193,17 +231,20 @@ argument...) However there are a few areas where we allow ourselves to
 assume certain behaviors because in practice all the platforms we care about
 behave in the same way and writing strictly conformant code would be
 painful. These are:
- * you may assume that integers are 2s complement representation
- * you may assume that right shift of a signed integer duplicates
-   the sign bit (ie it is an arithmetic shift, not a logical shift)
+
+* you may assume that integers are 2s complement representation
+* you may assume that right shift of a signed integer duplicates
+  the sign bit (ie it is an arithmetic shift, not a logical shift)
 
 In addition, QEMU assumes that the compiler does not use the latitude
 given in C99 and C11 to treat aspects of signed '<<' as undefined, as
 documented in the GNU Compiler Collection manual starting at version 4.0.
 
-7. Error handling and reporting
+Error handling and reporting
+============================
 
-7.1 Reporting errors to the human user
+Reporting errors to the human user
+----------------------------------
 
 Do not use printf(), fprintf() or monitor_printf().  Instead, use
 error_report() or error_vreport() from error-report.h.  This ensures the
@@ -214,10 +255,11 @@ Use error_printf() & friends to print additional information.
 
 error_report() prints the current location.  In certain common cases
 like command line parsing, the current location is tracked
-automatically.  To manipulate it manually, use the loc_*() from
+automatically.  To manipulate it manually, use the loc_``*``() from
 error-report.h.
 
-7.2 Propagating errors
+Propagating errors
+------------------
 
 An error can't always be reported to the user right where it's detected,
 but often needs to be propagated up the call chain to a place that can
@@ -233,16 +275,17 @@ error, non-negative / -errno, non-null / null, or Error objects.
 Example: when a function returns a non-null pointer on success, and it
 can fail only in one way (as far as the caller is concerned), returning
 null on failure is just fine, and certainly simpler and a lot easier on
-the eyes than propagating an Error object through an Error ** parameter.
+the eyes than propagating an Error object through an Error ``*````*`` parameter.
 
 Example: when a function's callers need to report details on failure
-only the function really knows, use Error **, and set suitable errors.
+only the function really knows, use Error ``*````*``, and set suitable errors.
 
 Do not report an error to the user when you're also returning an error
 for somebody else to handle.  Leave the reporting to the place that
 consumes the error returned.
 
-7.3 Handling errors
+Handling errors
+---------------
 
 Calling exit() is fine when handling configuration errors during
 startup.  It's problematic during normal operation.  In particular,
diff --git a/README b/README.rst
similarity index 84%
rename from README
rename to README.rst
index 441c33eb2f..9ff2877416 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-         QEMU README
-         ===========
+===========
+QEMU README
+===========
 
 QEMU is a generic and open source machine & userspace emulator and
 virtualizer.
@@ -37,6 +38,9 @@ QEMU is multi-platform software intended to be buildable on all modern
 Linux platforms, OS-X, Win32 (via the Mingw64 toolchain) and a variety
 of other UNIX targets. The simple steps to build QEMU are:
 
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
   mkdir build
   cd build
   ../configure
@@ -44,9 +48,9 @@ of other UNIX targets. The simple steps to build QEMU are:
 
 Additional information can also be found online via the QEMU website:
 
-  https://qemu.org/Hosts/Linux
-  https://qemu.org/Hosts/Mac
-  https://qemu.org/Hosts/W32
+* `<https://qemu.org/Hosts/Linux>`_
+* `<https://qemu.org/Hosts/Mac>`_
+* `<https://qemu.org/Hosts/W32>`_
 
 
 Submitting patches
@@ -54,24 +58,29 @@ Submitting patches
 
 The QEMU source code is maintained under the GIT version control system.
 
+.. code-block:: shell
+
    git clone https://git.qemu.org/git/qemu.git
 
 When submitting patches, one common approach is to use 'git
 format-patch' and/or 'git send-email' to format & send the mail to the
 qemu-devel@nongnu.org mailing list. All patches submitted must contain
 a 'Signed-off-by' line from the author. Patches should follow the
-guidelines set out in the HACKING and CODING_STYLE files.
+guidelines set out in the HACKING.rst and CODING_STYLE.rst files.
 
 Additional information on submitting patches can be found online via
 the QEMU website
 
-  https://qemu.org/Contribute/SubmitAPatch
-  https://qemu.org/Contribute/TrivialPatches
+* `<https://qemu.org/Contribute/SubmitAPatch>`_
+* `<https://qemu.org/Contribute/TrivialPatches>`_
 
 The QEMU website is also maintained under source control.
 
+.. code-block:: shell
+
   git clone https://git.qemu.org/git/qemu-web.git
-  https://www.qemu.org/2017/02/04/the-new-qemu-website-is-up/
+
+* `<https://www.qemu.org/2017/02/04/the-new-qemu-website-is-up/>`_
 
 A 'git-publish' utility was created to make above process less
 cumbersome, and is highly recommended for making regular contributions,
@@ -82,10 +91,12 @@ manually for once.
 
 For installation instructions, please go to
 
-  https://github.com/stefanha/git-publish
+*  `<https://github.com/stefanha/git-publish>`_
 
 The workflow with 'git-publish' is:
 
+.. code-block:: shell
+
   $ git checkout master -b my-feature
   $ # work on new commits, add your 'Signed-off-by' lines to each
   $ git publish
@@ -95,6 +106,8 @@ back to it in the future.
 
 Sending v2:
 
+.. code-block:: shell
+
   $ git checkout my-feature # same topic branch
   $ # making changes to the commits (using 'git rebase', for example)
   $ git publish
@@ -109,7 +122,7 @@ The QEMU project uses Launchpad as its primary upstream bug tracker. Bugs
 found when running code built from QEMU git or upstream released sources
 should be reported via:
 
-  https://bugs.launchpad.net/qemu/
+* `<https://bugs.launchpad.net/qemu/>`_
 
 If using QEMU via an operating system vendor pre-built binary package, it
 is preferable to report bugs to the vendor's own bug tracker first. If
@@ -118,7 +131,7 @@ reported via launchpad.
 
 For additional information on bug reporting consult:
 
-  https://qemu.org/Contribute/ReportABug
+* `<https://qemu.org/Contribute/ReportABug>`_
 
 
 Contact
@@ -127,13 +140,11 @@ Contact
 The QEMU community can be contacted in a number of ways, with the two
 main methods being email and IRC
 
- - qemu-devel@nongnu.org
-   https://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/qemu-devel
- - #qemu on irc.oftc.net
+* `<mailto:qemu-devel@nongnu.org>`_
+* `<https://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/qemu-devel>`_
+* #qemu on irc.oftc.net
 
 Information on additional methods of contacting the community can be
 found online via the QEMU website:
 
-  https://qemu.org/Contribute/StartHere
-
--- End
+* `<https://qemu.org/Contribute/StartHere>`_
diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index d24c9441ee..aa9a354a0e 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ sub top_of_kernel_tree {
 
 	my @tree_check = (
 		"COPYING", "MAINTAINERS", "Makefile",
-		"README", "docs", "VERSION",
+		"README.rst", "docs", "VERSION",
 		"vl.c"
 	);
 
