Previously, enabling nssmdns would enable the full mdns module by default, as well as the minimal one. Unfortunately, the full mdns module introduces a 5 second delay whenever it fails to perform a reverse hostname lookup (`gethostbyaddr`). For example, this adds a 5 second delay to ping as follows: 1. Ping resolves the hostname (example.com) to an IP address. This query is serviced by the user's DNS resolver, so it returns quickly. 2. Ping attempts to resolve the IP address back into a hostname via `gethostbyaddr`. 3. If the upstream DNS server fails to resolve the IP address back into a hostname (many domain-names lack reverse DNS records), NSS falls back on querying via Avahi (via the `mdns` module). 4. mDNS is a broadcast protocol, so Avahi has to wait the full 5 second timeout before it can return a failure. This patch fixes this by disabling the full `mdns` NSS module unless the new disabled-by-default `nssmdnsFull` option is enabled. The still-enabled `mdns_minimal` module only performs reverse IP lookups for `169.254.0.0/16` (link-local IP addresses) so this 5 second delay will only apply to link-local pings by domain-name. In practice, this change shouldn't negatively affect the vast majority of users. The only affected users are those who: 1. Are relying on Avahi to resolve IP addresses into hostnames on their local network via `gethostbyaddr`. 2. Are using mDNS hostnames that don't end in `.local`. The minimal module is sufficient for, e.g., users who just want to resolve hostnames for local printers and network shares. Note: This patch not fix this by adding [!UNAVAIL=return] after `dns` as discussed in (#291108) as that would treat mDNS as a fallback for DNS when DNS is unavailable which, IMO, is incorrect. Whether or not we use mDNS shouldn't depend on whether or not our DNS server is available. fixes #291108
Nixpkgs is a collection of over 140,000 software packages that can be installed with the Nix package manager. It also implements NixOS, a purely-functional Linux distribution.
Manuals
- NixOS Manual - how to install, configure, and maintain a purely-functional Linux distribution
- Nixpkgs Manual - contributing to Nixpkgs and using programming-language-specific Nix expressions
- Nix Package Manager Manual - how to write Nix expressions (programs), and how to use Nix command line tools
Community
- Discourse Forum
- Matrix Chat
- Official wiki
- Community-maintained list of ways to get in touch (Discord, Telegram, IRC, etc.)
Other Project Repositories
The sources of all official Nix-related projects are in the NixOS organization on GitHub. Here are some of the main ones:
- Nix - the purely functional package manager
- NixOps - the tool to remotely deploy NixOS machines
- nixos-hardware - NixOS profiles to optimize settings for different hardware
- Nix RFCs - the formal process for making substantial changes to the community
- NixOS homepage - the NixOS.org website
- hydra - our continuous integration system
- NixOS Branding - NixOS branding
Continuous Integration and Distribution
Nixpkgs and NixOS are built and tested by our continuous integration system, Hydra.
- Continuous package builds for unstable/master
- Continuous package builds for the NixOS 26.05 release
- Tests for unstable/master
- Tests for the NixOS 26.05 release
Artifacts successfully built with Hydra are published to cache at https://cache.nixos.org/. When successful build and test criteria are met, the Nixpkgs expressions are distributed via Nix channels.
Contributing
Nixpkgs is among the most active projects on GitHub. While thousands of open issues and pull requests might seem like a lot at first, it helps to consider it in the context of the scope of the project. Nixpkgs describes how to build tens of thousands of pieces of software and implements a Linux distribution. The GitHub Insights page gives a sense of the project activity.
Community contributions are always welcome through GitHub Issues and Pull Requests.
For more information about contributing to the project, please visit the contributing page.
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The infrastructure for NixOS and related projects is maintained by a nonprofit organization, the NixOS Foundation. To ensure the continuity and expansion of the NixOS infrastructure, we are looking for donations to our organization.
You can donate to the NixOS Foundation through SEPA bank transfers or by using Open Collective:
License
Nixpkgs is licensed under the MIT License.
Note
MIT license does not apply to the packages built by Nixpkgs, merely to the files in this repository (the Nix expressions, build scripts, NixOS modules, etc.). It also might not apply to patches included in Nixpkgs, which may be derivative works of the packages to which they apply. The aforementioned artifacts are all covered by the licenses of the respective packages.