diff --git a/COMPILE_ubuntu-16.04.md b/COMPILE_ubuntu-16.04.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8298b571c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/COMPILE_ubuntu-16.04.md
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+Howto build kiwix-lib on Ubuntu 16.04 (LTS)
+===========================================
+
+Some dependencies packaged on Ubuntu 16.04 are too old or don't provide
+pkg-config files.
+
+The [kiwix-build](https://github.com/kiwix/kiwix-build) script takes care of
+downloading, compiling and installing all the dependencies and kiwix-* projects.
+We recommend you to use this script.
+
+If you still want to compile yourself kiwix-lib... here we go !
+
+This script describe step by step how to compile kiwix-lib on a fresh
+Ubuntu 16.04 system.
+
+# Install needed packages
+
+```
+sudo apt install uuid-dev libicu-dev libctpp2-dev automake libtool
+```
+
+# Prepare the environment
+
+We will install all our custom dependencies in a separated directory to avoid
+polluting the system.
+
+```
+KIWIX_DIR=</some/dir>
+mkdir $KIWIX_DIR
+virtualenv -p python3 $KIWIX_DIR
+# Activate the virtualenv
+source $KIWIX_DIR/bin/activate
+# The virtualenv can be deactivated at anytime with
+deactivate
+```
+
+## Libzim
+
+```
+git clone https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/p/openzim.git
+cd openzim/zimlib
+./autoconf.sh
+./configure --prefix=$KIWIX_DIR
+make
+make install
+```
+
+## libpugixml
+
+```
+wget http://github.com/zeux/pugixml/releases/download/v1.8/pugixml-1.8.tar.gz && tar xf pugixml-1.8.tar.gz
+cd pugixml-1.8
+cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$KIWIX_DIR -DBUILD_PKGCONFIG=1 -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=1
+make
+make install
+```
+
+## Xapian
+
+The libxapian provided by ubuntu package is too old and do not have the GLASS_BACKEND we use.
+So we need to compile our own xapian version:
+
+```
+wget http://download.kiwix.org/dev/xapian-core-1.4.0.tar.xz && tar xf xapian-core-1.4.0.tar.xz
+cd xapian-core-1.4.0
+./configure --enable-shared --enable-static --disable-sse --disable-backend-inmemory --disable-documentation --prefix=$KIWIX_DIR
+make
+make install
+```
+
+## meson
+
+Meson is a python package, just install it with pip.
+(Be sure you are using the virtualenv created before)
+
+```
+pip install meson
+hash -r # let's bash renew its hashes and use the meson we've just installed
+```
+
+## ninja
+
+```
+git clone git://github.com/ninja-build/ninja.git && cd ninja
+git checkout release
+./configure.py --bootstrap
+cp ninja $KIWIX_DIR/bin
+```
+
+The virtualenv automatically add the $KIWIX_DIR/bin in PATH, so there
+is nothing more to do.
+
+
+# Compile kiwix-lib
+
+
+Then, it's time to compile kiwix-lib :
+
+```
+$ cd kiwix-lib
+$ mkdir build
+$ PKG_CONFIG_PATH=~/KIWIX/lib/pkgconfig meson . build --prefix=$KIWIX_DIR
+$ cd build
+$ ninja
+$ ninja install
+```
+
+By default, it will compile dynamic linked libraries.
+If you want statically linked libraries, you can add `--default-library=static`
+option to the meson command.
+
+Licensed as GPLv3 or later, see COPYING for more details.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 037eaddd1..7eb355406 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -3,16 +3,14 @@ libkiwix
 
 libkiwix contains the common code base for all kiwix ports.
 
-
-
-Build kiwix-tools
------------------
+Build kiwix-lib
+---------------
 
 
 Most of the compilation steps (including download and
 compilation of dependencies and other tools (kiwix-tools)) are handle
 by [kiwix-build](https://github.com/kiwix/kiwix-build) script.
-If you don't have any special need, we recommand you to use kiwix-build
+If you don't have any special need, we recommend you to use kiwix-build
 instead of doing all the steps yourself.
 
 Dependencies:
@@ -22,29 +20,15 @@ You'll need the following dependencies to build libkiwix:
 * icu
 * libzim
 * pugixml
-* aria2c
 * ctpp2
-* xapian (optional)
+* xapian (optional) (>=1.4)
+* meson build system (>=0.34)(and so, ninja, pkg-config, ...)
 
-On debian architecture, you can install the following deb packages:
-* libicu-dev
-* libxapian-dev
-* libctpp2-dev
-* aria2c
-
-You will need to install yourself:
-* [libzim](http://www.openzim.org/wiki/Zimlib)
-* libpugixml - 1.8+, compiled with `-DBUILD_PKGCONFIG=1 -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=1`
-
-As we use meson to build kiwix-tools, you will need the common meson tools:
-* [meson](http://mesonbuild.com/) >= 0.34
-* ninja
-* pkg-config
-
-To build:
+Once all dependencies are installed, you can compile kiwix-lib with:
 
 ```
 $ cd kiwix-lib
+$ mkdir build
 $ meson . build
 $ cd build
 $ ninja
@@ -55,4 +39,15 @@ By default, it will compile dynamic linked libraries.
 If you want statically linked libraries, you can add `--default-library=static`
 option to the meson command.
 
+(You may need to set PKG_CONFIG_PATH before running meson depending of where
+and how you've install dependencies)
+(Depending of you system, `ninja` may be called `ninja-build`)
+
+
+Howto build kiwix-lib on Ubuntu 16.04 (LTS)
+-------------------------------------------
+
+If you want to compile yourself kiwix-lib see the specific readme to
+[compile kiwix-lib on Ubuntu 16.04](COMPILE_ubuntu-16.04.md).
+
 Licensed as GPLv3 or later, see COPYING for more details.