diff --git a/flink/README.md b/flink/README.md
index 1d38112eb..7c1a91cdb 100644
--- a/flink/README.md
+++ b/flink/README.md
@@ -16,22 +16,38 @@ WARNING:
 
 # Supported tags and respective `Dockerfile` links
 
--	[`1.2.1-hadoop2-scala_2.10` (*1.2/hadoop2-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/38f86f24c029a524a01db7dd273e991c69b3c9f2/1.2/hadoop2-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile)
--	[`1.2.1-hadoop2-scala_2.11`, `1.2.1-hadoop2`, `1.2-hadoop2` (*1.2/hadoop2-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/38f86f24c029a524a01db7dd273e991c69b3c9f2/1.2/hadoop2-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile)
--	[`1.2.1-hadoop24-scala_2.10` (*1.2/hadoop24-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/38f86f24c029a524a01db7dd273e991c69b3c9f2/1.2/hadoop24-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile)
--	[`1.2.1-hadoop24-scala_2.11`, `1.2.1-hadoop24`, `1.2-hadoop24` (*1.2/hadoop24-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/38f86f24c029a524a01db7dd273e991c69b3c9f2/1.2/hadoop24-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile)
--	[`1.2.1-hadoop26-scala_2.10` (*1.2/hadoop26-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/38f86f24c029a524a01db7dd273e991c69b3c9f2/1.2/hadoop26-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile)
--	[`1.2.1-hadoop26-scala_2.11`, `1.2.1-hadoop26`, `1.2-hadoop26` (*1.2/hadoop26-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/38f86f24c029a524a01db7dd273e991c69b3c9f2/1.2/hadoop26-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile)
--	[`1.2.1-hadoop27-scala_2.10`, `1.2.1-scala_2.10`, `1.2-scala_2.10` (*1.2/hadoop27-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/38f86f24c029a524a01db7dd273e991c69b3c9f2/1.2/hadoop27-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile)
--	[`1.2.1-hadoop27-scala_2.11`, `1.2.1-scala_2.11`, `1.2-scala_2.11`, `1.2.1-hadoop27`, `1.2-hadoop27`, `1.2.1`, `1.2` (*1.2/hadoop27-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/38f86f24c029a524a01db7dd273e991c69b3c9f2/1.2/hadoop27-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile)
--	[`1.3.2-hadoop2-scala_2.10` (*1.3/hadoop2-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/c7d0506a96369512563ffb6c0afc8dba09430845/1.3/hadoop2-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile)
--	[`1.3.2-hadoop2-scala_2.11`, `1.3.2-hadoop2`, `1.3-hadoop2`, `hadoop2` (*1.3/hadoop2-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/c7d0506a96369512563ffb6c0afc8dba09430845/1.3/hadoop2-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile)
--	[`1.3.2-hadoop24-scala_2.10` (*1.3/hadoop24-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/c7d0506a96369512563ffb6c0afc8dba09430845/1.3/hadoop24-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile)
--	[`1.3.2-hadoop24-scala_2.11`, `1.3.2-hadoop24`, `1.3-hadoop24`, `hadoop24` (*1.3/hadoop24-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/c7d0506a96369512563ffb6c0afc8dba09430845/1.3/hadoop24-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile)
--	[`1.3.2-hadoop26-scala_2.10` (*1.3/hadoop26-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/c7d0506a96369512563ffb6c0afc8dba09430845/1.3/hadoop26-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile)
--	[`1.3.2-hadoop26-scala_2.11`, `1.3.2-hadoop26`, `1.3-hadoop26`, `hadoop26` (*1.3/hadoop26-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/c7d0506a96369512563ffb6c0afc8dba09430845/1.3/hadoop26-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile)
--	[`1.3.2-hadoop27-scala_2.10`, `1.3.2-scala_2.10`, `1.3-scala_2.10`, `scala_2.10` (*1.3/hadoop27-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/c7d0506a96369512563ffb6c0afc8dba09430845/1.3/hadoop27-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile)
--	[`1.3.2-hadoop27-scala_2.11`, `1.3.2-scala_2.11`, `1.3-scala_2.11`, `scala_2.11`, `1.3.2-hadoop27`, `1.3-hadoop27`, `hadoop27`, `1.3.2`, `1.3`, `latest` (*1.3/hadoop27-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/c7d0506a96369512563ffb6c0afc8dba09430845/1.3/hadoop27-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.2.1-hadoop2-scala_2.10` (*1.2/hadoop2-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.2/hadoop2-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.2.1-hadoop2-scala_2.11`, `1.2.1-hadoop2`, `1.2-hadoop2` (*1.2/hadoop2-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.2/hadoop2-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.2.1-hadoop24-scala_2.10` (*1.2/hadoop24-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.2/hadoop24-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.2.1-hadoop24-scala_2.11`, `1.2.1-hadoop24`, `1.2-hadoop24` (*1.2/hadoop24-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.2/hadoop24-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.2.1-hadoop26-scala_2.10` (*1.2/hadoop26-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.2/hadoop26-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.2.1-hadoop26-scala_2.11`, `1.2.1-hadoop26`, `1.2-hadoop26` (*1.2/hadoop26-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.2/hadoop26-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.2.1-hadoop27-scala_2.10`, `1.2.1-scala_2.10`, `1.2-scala_2.10` (*1.2/hadoop27-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.2/hadoop27-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.2.1-hadoop27-scala_2.11`, `1.2.1-scala_2.11`, `1.2-scala_2.11`, `1.2.1-hadoop27`, `1.2-hadoop27`, `1.2.1`, `1.2` (*1.2/hadoop27-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.2/hadoop27-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.2.1-hadoop2-scala_2.10-alpine` (*1.2/hadoop2-scala_2.10-alpine/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.2/hadoop2-scala_2.10-alpine/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.2.1-hadoop2-scala_2.11-alpine`, `1.2.1-hadoop2-alpine`, `1.2-hadoop2-alpine` (*1.2/hadoop2-scala_2.11-alpine/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.2/hadoop2-scala_2.11-alpine/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.2.1-hadoop24-scala_2.10-alpine` (*1.2/hadoop24-scala_2.10-alpine/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.2/hadoop24-scala_2.10-alpine/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.2.1-hadoop24-scala_2.11-alpine`, `1.2.1-hadoop24-alpine`, `1.2-hadoop24-alpine` (*1.2/hadoop24-scala_2.11-alpine/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.2/hadoop24-scala_2.11-alpine/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.2.1-hadoop26-scala_2.10-alpine` (*1.2/hadoop26-scala_2.10-alpine/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.2/hadoop26-scala_2.10-alpine/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.2.1-hadoop26-scala_2.11-alpine`, `1.2.1-hadoop26-alpine`, `1.2-hadoop26-alpine` (*1.2/hadoop26-scala_2.11-alpine/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.2/hadoop26-scala_2.11-alpine/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.2.1-hadoop27-scala_2.10-alpine`, `1.2.1-scala_2.10-alpine`, `1.2-scala_2.10-alpine` (*1.2/hadoop27-scala_2.10-alpine/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.2/hadoop27-scala_2.10-alpine/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.2.1-hadoop27-scala_2.11-alpine`, `1.2.1-scala_2.11-alpine`, `1.2-scala_2.11-alpine`, `1.2.1-hadoop27-alpine`, `1.2-hadoop27-alpine`, `1.2.1-alpine`, `1.2-alpine` (*1.2/hadoop27-scala_2.11-alpine/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.2/hadoop27-scala_2.11-alpine/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.3.2-hadoop2-scala_2.10` (*1.3/hadoop2-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.3/hadoop2-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.3.2-hadoop2-scala_2.11`, `1.3.2-hadoop2`, `1.3-hadoop2`, `hadoop2` (*1.3/hadoop2-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.3/hadoop2-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.3.2-hadoop24-scala_2.10` (*1.3/hadoop24-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.3/hadoop24-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.3.2-hadoop24-scala_2.11`, `1.3.2-hadoop24`, `1.3-hadoop24`, `hadoop24` (*1.3/hadoop24-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.3/hadoop24-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.3.2-hadoop26-scala_2.10` (*1.3/hadoop26-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.3/hadoop26-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.3.2-hadoop26-scala_2.11`, `1.3.2-hadoop26`, `1.3-hadoop26`, `hadoop26` (*1.3/hadoop26-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.3/hadoop26-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.3.2-hadoop27-scala_2.10`, `1.3.2-scala_2.10`, `1.3-scala_2.10`, `scala_2.10` (*1.3/hadoop27-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.3/hadoop27-scala_2.10-debian/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.3.2-hadoop27-scala_2.11`, `1.3.2-scala_2.11`, `1.3-scala_2.11`, `scala_2.11`, `1.3.2-hadoop27`, `1.3-hadoop27`, `hadoop27`, `1.3.2`, `1.3`, `latest` (*1.3/hadoop27-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.3/hadoop27-scala_2.11-debian/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.3.2-hadoop2-scala_2.10-alpine` (*1.3/hadoop2-scala_2.10-alpine/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.3/hadoop2-scala_2.10-alpine/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.3.2-hadoop2-scala_2.11-alpine`, `1.3.2-hadoop2-alpine`, `1.3-hadoop2-alpine`, `hadoop2-alpine` (*1.3/hadoop2-scala_2.11-alpine/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.3/hadoop2-scala_2.11-alpine/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.3.2-hadoop24-scala_2.10-alpine` (*1.3/hadoop24-scala_2.10-alpine/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.3/hadoop24-scala_2.10-alpine/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.3.2-hadoop24-scala_2.11-alpine`, `1.3.2-hadoop24-alpine`, `1.3-hadoop24-alpine`, `hadoop24-alpine` (*1.3/hadoop24-scala_2.11-alpine/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.3/hadoop24-scala_2.11-alpine/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.3.2-hadoop26-scala_2.10-alpine` (*1.3/hadoop26-scala_2.10-alpine/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.3/hadoop26-scala_2.10-alpine/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.3.2-hadoop26-scala_2.11-alpine`, `1.3.2-hadoop26-alpine`, `1.3-hadoop26-alpine`, `hadoop26-alpine` (*1.3/hadoop26-scala_2.11-alpine/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.3/hadoop26-scala_2.11-alpine/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.3.2-hadoop27-scala_2.10-alpine`, `1.3.2-scala_2.10-alpine`, `1.3-scala_2.10-alpine`, `scala_2.10-alpine` (*1.3/hadoop27-scala_2.10-alpine/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.3/hadoop27-scala_2.10-alpine/Dockerfile)
+-	[`1.3.2-hadoop27-scala_2.11-alpine`, `1.3.2-scala_2.11-alpine`, `1.3-scala_2.11-alpine`, `scala_2.11-alpine`, `1.3.2-hadoop27-alpine`, `1.3-hadoop27-alpine`, `hadoop27-alpine`, `1.3.2-alpine`, `1.3-alpine`, `alpine` (*1.3/hadoop27-scala_2.11-alpine/Dockerfile*)](https://github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink/blob/f4b62d9ab129bf6765b80e8079dc9aaf91fdd54f/1.3/hadoop27-scala_2.11-alpine/Dockerfile)
 
 # Quick reference
 
@@ -157,6 +173,22 @@ This repository is available on [github.com/docker-flink/docker-flink](https://g
 
 This repository is maintained by members of the Apache Flink community.
 
+# Image Variants
+
+The `flink` images come in many flavors, each designed for a specific use case.
+
+## `flink:<version>`
+
+This is the defacto image. If you are unsure about what your needs are, you probably want to use this one. It is designed to be used both as a throw away container (mount your source code and start the container to start your app), as well as the base to build other images off of.
+
+## `flink:alpine`
+
+This image is based on the popular [Alpine Linux project](http://alpinelinux.org), available in [the `alpine` official image](https://hub.docker.com/_/alpine). Alpine Linux is much smaller than most distribution base images (~5MB), and thus leads to much slimmer images in general.
+
+This variant is highly recommended when final image size being as small as possible is desired. The main caveat to note is that it does use [musl libc](http://www.musl-libc.org) instead of [glibc and friends](http://www.etalabs.net/compare_libcs.html), so certain software might run into issues depending on the depth of their libc requirements. However, most software doesn't have an issue with this, so this variant is usually a very safe choice. See [this Hacker News comment thread](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10782897) for more discussion of the issues that might arise and some pro/con comparisons of using Alpine-based images.
+
+To minimize image size, it's uncommon for additional related tools (such as `git` or `bash`) to be included in Alpine-based images. Using this image as a base, add the things you need in your own Dockerfile (see the [`alpine` image description](https://hub.docker.com/_/alpine/) for examples of how to install packages if you are unfamiliar).
+
 # License
 
 Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at