Tidy up contributing docs

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+# How to contribute to cloud-init
+
+Thank you for wanting to help us improve cloud-init! There are a variety of
+ways you can contribute to this project, including no-code and low-code options.
+This documentation will help orient you with our processes.
+
+Please make sure that you read this guide before starting to contribute. It
+contains all the details you need to know to give your contribution the best
+chance of being accepted.
+
+Cloud-init is hosted and managed on [GitHub](https://github.com). If you're not
+familiar with how GitHub works, their
+[quickstart documentation](https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/quickstart)
+provides an excellent introduction to all the tools and processes you'll need
+to know.
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+Before you can begin, you will need to:
+
+* Read and agree to abide by our
+  [Code of Conduct](https://ubuntu.com/community/code-of-conduct).
+
+* Sign the Canonical
+  [contributor license agreement](https://ubuntu.com/legal/contributors). This
+  grants us your permission to use your contributions in the project.
+
+* Create (or have) a GitHub account. We will refer to your GitHub username as
+  `GH_USER`.
+
+## Getting help
+
+We use IRC and have a dedicated `#cloud-init` channel where you can contact
+us for help and guidance. This link will take you directly to our
+[IRC channel on Libera](https://kiwiirc.com/nextclient/irc.libera.chat/cloud-init).
+Please don't be afraid to reach out if you need help constructing your pull
+request.
+
+## Instructions for contributors
+
+The best way to get started is by checking out the
+["Development" section](https://cloudinit.readthedocs.io/en/latest/development/index.html)
+in our documentation. This covers everything; from how to find issues to work
+on, to how cloud-init is structured and useful resources, through to making your
+first PR and getting it accepted.

doc/rtd/conf.py

@@ -106,7 +106,6 @@
     },
 }
 
-
 # The name of an image file (relative to this directory) to place at the top
 # of the sidebar.
 html_static_path = ["static"]