Unfree software - Revision history

Smudgebun: Added a link to the section of the Flakes page on unfree software.

2026-04-21T04:51:17Z

Added a link to the section of the Flakes page on unfree software.

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:51, 21 April 2026
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	== Allowing unfree software ==		== Allowing unfree software ==
	By default, nix will refuse to evaluate any [[Derivations\|derivation]] containing unfree software, prompting the user to read the manual for more details. This behaviour can be configured in different ways depending on the context of the derivation.		By default, nix will refuse to evaluate any [[Derivations\|derivation]] containing unfree software, prompting the user to read the manual for more details. This behaviour can be configured in different ways depending on the context of the derivation.

			=== Unfree software in Flakes ===
			For allowing unfree software in a flake-based config, see: [[Flakes#Enable_unfree_software]].

	=== Unfree software using Home Manager ===		=== Unfree software using Home Manager ===

DoggoBit: /* Standalone Home Manager */ Fix nowiki tag

2025-06-14T16:36:18Z

Standalone Home Manager: Fix nowiki tag

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:36, 14 June 2025
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	...		...
	nixpkgs.config.allowUnfree = true;		nixpkgs.config.allowUnfree = true;
	}</nowiki\|name=home.nix\|lang=nix}}		}</nowiki>\|name=home.nix\|lang=nix}}
	[[Category:Software]]		[[Category:Software]]
	[[Category:Nixpkgs]]		[[Category:Nixpkgs]]

DoggoBit: add info about home manager

2025-06-14T16:35:56Z

add info about home manager

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 [https://nixos.org/manual/nixpkgs/stable/#sec-allow-unfree Nixpkgs manual on allowing unfree packages]
 [[Category:Software]]
 [[Category:Nixpkgs]]

DoggoBit at 19:59, 5 June 2025

2025-06-05T19:59:48Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:59, 5 June 2025
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			{{expansion}}

	Unfree software refers to software that has restrictive licensing on modification and/or redistribution. This type of software cannot be freely provided or distributed in an official capacity, which means that unfree software is neither built by [[Hydra]], nor cached on the official [[Binary Cache\|binary cache]]. Despite this, Nixpkgs offers a very large collection of unfree software as derivations, however they cannot be used by default without configuring Nixpkgs and opting in to unfree software usage.		Unfree software refers to software that has restrictive licensing on modification and/or redistribution. This type of software cannot be freely provided or distributed in an official capacity, which means that unfree software is neither built by [[Hydra]], nor cached on the official [[Binary Cache\|binary cache]]. Despite this, Nixpkgs offers a very large collection of unfree software as derivations, however they cannot be used by default without configuring Nixpkgs and opting in to unfree software usage.

Dander: link to nixpkgs manual instead of copying the content

2024-10-26T22:25:13Z

link to nixpkgs manual instead of copying the content

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Unfree software refers to software that has restrictive licensing on modification and/or redistribution. These types of software cannot be freely provided or distributed in an official capacity, which means that they are neither built by [[Hydra]], nor as they cached on the official [[Binary Cache|binary cache]]. Despite this, Nixpkgs offers a very large collection of unfree software as derivations, however they cannot be used by default without configuring Nixpkgs and opting in to unfree software usage.
+Unfree software refers to software that has restrictive licensing on modification and/or redistribution. This type of software cannot be freely provided or distributed in an official capacity, which means that unfree software is neither built by [[Hydra]], nor cached on the official [[Binary Cache|binary cache]]. Despite this, Nixpkgs offers a very large collection of unfree software as derivations, however they cannot be used by default without configuring Nixpkgs and opting in to unfree software usage.
-== Configuring ==
+[https://nixos.org/manual/nixpkgs/stable/#sec-allow-unfree Nixpkgs manual on allowing unfree packages]
 [[Category:Software]]
 [[Category:Nixpkgs]]

Frontear: clarify description about configuring nixpkgs

2024-10-18T01:07:08Z

clarify description about configuring nixpkgs

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:07, 18 October 2024
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	Unfree software refers to software that has restrictive licensing on modification and/or redistribution. These types of software cannot be freely provided or distributed in an official capacity, which means that they are neither built by [[Hydra]], nor as they cached on the official [[Binary Cache\|binary cache]]. Despite this, Nixpkgs offers a very large collection of unfree software as derivations, however they cannot be ~~accessed~~ by default ~~unless you opt-~~in.		Unfree software refers to software that has restrictive licensing on modification and/or redistribution. These types of software cannot be freely provided or distributed in an official capacity, which means that they are neither built by [[Hydra]], nor as they cached on the official [[Binary Cache\|binary cache]]. Despite this, Nixpkgs offers a very large collection of unfree software as derivations, however they cannot be used by default without configuring Nixpkgs and opting in to unfree software usage.

	== Configuring ==		== Configuring ==

Frontear: remove bit about tips and tricks

2024-10-18T01:06:25Z

remove bit about tips and tricks

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:06, 18 October 2024
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	=== For Nix CLI ===		=== For Nix CLI ===
	As you may have noticed, the above configuration does not apply globally to your NixOS system (and is not applicable for non-NixOS users). Instead, you can configure Nixpkgs at a user level by writing your configuration in <code>~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix</code>.		As you may have noticed, the above configuration does not apply globally to your NixOS system (and is not applicable for non-NixOS users). Instead, you can configure Nixpkgs at a user level by writing your configuration in <code>~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix</code>.
	{{Note\|This file is ignored using nix3 commands, ~~which internally leverage flakes and/or~~ the ~~flake registry. See Tips and Tricks for an alternative~~.}}{{file\|~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix\|nix\|3={		{{Note\|This file is ignored using nix3 commands, leaving you with the environment variable technique as the easiest resort.}}{{file\|~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix\|nix\|3={
	allowUnfree = true;		allowUnfree = true;
	<nowiki>}</nowiki>}}You can alternatively set the environment variable <code>NIXPKGS_ALLOW_UNFREE=1</code>, which is automatically picked up by the Nix CLI. For newer nix3 commands, you will need to additionally pass <code>--impure</code>, otherwise the environment variable is ignored.<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">		<nowiki>}</nowiki>}}You can alternatively set the environment variable <code>NIXPKGS_ALLOW_UNFREE=1</code>, which is automatically picked up by the Nix CLI. For newer nix3 commands, you will need to additionally pass <code>--impure</code>, otherwise the environment variable is ignored.<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">

Frontear: rewrite this page with better formatting

2024-10-18T01:05:09Z

rewrite this page with better formatting

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:05, 18 October 2024
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	~~'''~~Unfree software~~''', sometimes called '''nonfree~~ software~~''', is~~ software ~~that~~ cannot be freely ~~modified~~ or distributed. [[~~Nixpkgs~~]] ~~provides packages for~~ unfree software, ~~but additional configuration is required before~~ they ~~can~~ be ~~used~~.		Unfree software refers to software that has restrictive licensing on modification and/or redistribution. These types of software cannot be freely provided or distributed in an official capacity, which means that they are neither built by [[Hydra]], nor as they cached on the official [[Binary Cache\|binary cache]]. Despite this, Nixpkgs offers a very large collection of unfree software as derivations, however they cannot be accessed by default unless you opt-in.

	== ~~Using unfree packages~~ ==		== Configuring ==
	~~=== Per-package (preferred) ===~~
	~~This method works for both NixOS system level configuration and [[Home Manager]]:~~

	{{~~file~~\|/~~etc~~/~~nixos~~/~~configuration~~.~~nix\|nix\|~~<~~nowiki~~>		=== For NixOS ===
	{		[[NixOS]] offers a module that can configure Nixpkgs, which will retroactively change the pkgs across your configuration to use the new settings, including allowing for unfree packages.<syntaxhighlight lang="nixos">
			{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }: {
			nixpkgs.config.allowUnfree = true; # Allows all packages that are marked unfree to be built.

			environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
			steam # No error!
			];
			}
			</syntaxhighlight>You may instead configure this on a per-package basis via <code>allowUnfreePredicate</code>.
			{{Note\|Please note that this function has awkward semantics and occasionally doesn't work as expected. Issues like this should be raised directly in [https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues Nixpkgs].}}<syntaxhighlight lang="nixos">
			{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }: {
			# Add packages by their "derivation name" here.
			# Find the derivation name from https://search.nixos.org/
	nixpkgs.config.allowUnfreePredicate = pkg: builtins.elem (lib.getName pkg) [		nixpkgs.config.allowUnfreePredicate = pkg: builtins.elem (lib.getName pkg) [
	"~~vscode~~"		"steam"
	];		];
	}		}
			</syntaxhighlight>

	~~</nowiki>}}~~		=== For Nix CLI ===
			As you may have noticed, the above configuration does not apply globally to your NixOS system (and is not applicable for non-NixOS users). Instead, you can configure Nixpkgs at a user level by writing your configuration in <code>~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix</code>.
	=== For ~~all packages~~ ===		{{Note\|This file is ignored using nix3 commands, which internally leverage flakes and/or the flake registry. See Tips and Tricks for an alternative.}}{{file\|~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix\|nix\|3={

	~~This method works~~ for ~~both~~ NixOS ~~system~~ level configuration ~~and [[Home Manager]]:~~

	~~{{file\|~~/~~etc~~/~~nixos~~/~~configuration~~.nix~~\|nix\|~~<~~nowiki~~>
	{
	~~nixpkgs~~.~~config~~.~~allowUnfree = true;~~
	}
	~~</nowiki>~~}}

	~~=== Command line ===~~

	~~You won't be able to install or search for an unfree package as a user unless you explicitly enable it:~~

	{{file\|~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix\|nix\|~~<nowiki>~~
	{
	allowUnfree = true;		allowUnfree = true;
	}		<nowiki>}</nowiki>}}You can alternatively set the environment variable <code>NIXPKGS_ALLOW_UNFREE=1</code>, which is automatically picked up by the Nix CLI. For newer nix3 commands, you will need to additionally pass <code>--impure</code>, otherwise the environment variable is ignored.<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
	</nowiki>}}		$ export NIXPKGS_ALLOW_UNFREE=1
			$ nix-shell -p vscode --command 'code' # nix-legacy
	=~~== Temporarily allowing ===~~		$ nix run --impure nixpkgs#vscode # nix3

	For ~~temporary allowing unfree packages~~, you ~~can use an~~ environment variable:

	<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">
	$ NIXPKGS_ALLOW_UNFREE=1 nix-shell -p vscode
	</syntaxhighlight>		</syntaxhighlight>

	~~Note for the new nix3-style commands, you need to pass <code>--impure</code> as well:~~

	~~<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">~~
	~~$ NIXPKGS_ALLOW_UNFREE=1 nix run nixpkgs#vscode --impure~~
	~~</syntaxhighlight>~~

	~~== Hydra ==~~

	~~[[Hydra]] does not build unfree software, and unfree software is unavailable in <code>cache.nixos.org</code>.~~

	== See also ==		== See also ==

Klinger: Category:Nixpkgs added

2024-10-01T20:40:18Z

Category:Nixpkgs added

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:40, 1 October 2024
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	[[Category:Software]]		[[Category:Software]]
			[[Category:Nixpkgs]]

Tomodachi94: Tomodachi94 moved page Unfree Software to Unfree software: use sentance case

2024-06-21T05:59:45Z

Tomodachi94 moved page Unfree Software to Unfree software: use sentance case

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:59, 21 June 2024
(No difference)