docs: rewrite README with structured overview and quick start guide

Replaces the minimal project description with a comprehensive README
including a component overview table, quick start instructions, common
Ansible operations, and links to detailed documentation. Aligns with
Red Panda Approval™ standards.

ansible/kernos/stage.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+---
+- name: Stage Kernos release tarball
+  hosts: localhost
+  gather_facts: false
+  vars:
+    archive_path: "{{rel_dir}}/kernos_{{kernos_rel}}.tar"
+    kernos_repo_url: "ssh://robert@clio.helu.ca:18677/mnt/dev/kernos"
+    kernos_repo_dir: "{{repo_dir}}/kernos"
+
+  tasks:
+    - name: Ensure release directory exists
+      file:
+        path: "{{rel_dir}}"
+        state: directory
+        mode: '755'
+
+    - name: Ensure repo directory exists
+      file:
+        path: "{{repo_dir}}"
+        state: directory
+        mode: '755'
+
+    - name: Clone Kernos repository if not present
+      ansible.builtin.git:
+        repo: "{{kernos_repo_url}}"
+        dest: "{{kernos_repo_dir}}"
+        version: "{{kernos_rel}}"
+        accept_hostkey: true
+      register: git_clone
+      ignore_errors: true
+
+    - name: Fetch all remote branches and tags
+      ansible.builtin.command: git fetch --all
+      args:
+        chdir: "{{kernos_repo_dir}}"
+      when: git_clone is not changed
+
+    - name: Pull latest changes
+      ansible.builtin.command: git pull
+      args:
+        chdir: "{{kernos_repo_dir}}"
+      when: git_clone is not changed
+
+    - name: Create Kernos archive for specified release
+      ansible.builtin.command: git archive -o "{{archive_path}}" "{{kernos_rel}}"
+      args:
+        chdir: "{{kernos_repo_dir}}"