Unfree software: Difference between revisions

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VisualWikitext

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-{{FAQ/breadcrumb}}{{#tweekihide:firstHeading}}<onlyinclude>
-== How can I install a proprietary or unfree package? ==
-=== Configuration for a user ===
-You won't be able to install or search for an unfree package as a user, unless you explicitly enable it in ''~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix'' (the file and folder may need to be created):
+=== Per-package (Ideal) ===
+This method works for NixOS system level configuration and Home-Manager standalone
+<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">
+{lib, ...}: {
+  nixpkgs.config.allowUnfreePredicate = pkg:
+    builtins.elem (lib.getName pkg) [
+      # Add additional package names here
+      "hello-unfree"
+    ];
+}
+</syntaxhighlight>
+=== For all packages ===
+This method works for NixOS system level configuration
+<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">
+{
+  nixpkgs.config.allowUnfree = true;
+}
+</syntaxhighlight>
+This previous method '''should''' work for Home-Manager standalone but is currently broken
+see: [https://github.com/nix-community/home-manager/issues/2942 Home-Manager Issue 2942]
+the work-around is using:
 <syntaxhighlight lang="nix">
 {
-   # [...]
+   nixpkgs.config.allowUnfreePredicate = _: true;
-  allowUnfree = true;
 }
 </syntaxhighlight>
-=== System-level configuration (NixOS) ===
-When using NixOS, it is possible to enable unfree for eg. <code>environment.systemPackages</code> with the following  setting in your <code>/etc/nixos/configuration.nix</code>:
+=== Imperative CLI ===
+You won't be able to install or search for an unfree package as a user, unless you explicitly enable it in ''~/.config/nixpkgs/config.nix'' (the file and folder may need to be created):
 <syntaxhighlight lang="nix">
 {
-   # [...]
+   allowUnfree = true;
-  nixpkgs.config.allowUnfree = true;
 }
 </syntaxhighlight>
-'''Note that this alone will not allow you to search for or install packages with nix-env without the user configured.''' See the previous section. No reboot is required for unfree to take effect, however you need to run <code>nixos-rebuild switch</code> just like for all other changes to your systems <code>configuration.nix</code>
 === Temporary allowing ===
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 For temporary allowing unfree packages you can set the environment variable ''NIXPKGS_ALLOW_UNFREE'', e.g.
-<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">NIXPKGS_ALLOW_UNFREE=1 nix-env</syntaxhighlight>
+<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">$ NIXPKGS_ALLOW_UNFREE=1 nix-shell</syntaxhighlight>
+Note for nix3 commands you need to pass <code>--impure</code> as well
 === More precision ===
-For whitelisting '''only specific''' unfree packages or unfree licenses
+For whitelisting '''only specific''' unfree licenses
 see the [https://nixos.org/nixpkgs/manual/#sec-allow-unfree "Installing unfree packages" section]
 of the Nixpkgs manual.
@@ Line 40: / Line 56: @@
 due to policy. Most unfree licenses prohibit us from either executing or
 distributing the software.
-</onlyinclude>