# nixos-bsd/nixbsd

An unofficial NixOS fork with a FreeBSD kernel

Repository: https://github.com/nixos-bsd/nixbsd
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/nixbsd
Language: Nix
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-07-10T17:09:03+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 67/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 91, release rhythm 35, longevity 70
- inputs: {"age_days": 983, "days_push": 54, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1029, forks 39 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:17.570576+00:00)

## What it is
NixBSD is an unofficial NixOS fork that uses the FreeBSD kernel, providing Nix modules and forked nix/nixpkgs tooling to build a reproducible, declarative BSD distribution. It lets users define and build complete FreeBSD systems, including VM images, using Nix flakes.

## Use cases
- build a reproducible declarative FreeBSD system with Nix
- run a Nix-configured FreeBSD virtual machine
- manage a BSD server configuration as code
- try NixOS-style declarative configuration on a non-Linux kernel
- cross-build FreeBSD systems from a Linux host

## When to choose
- you want Nix's declarative, reproducible system management on FreeBSD
- you need to build or test FreeBSD system images from Nix expressions
- you're experimenting with alternative kernels under NixOS-style modules

## When to avoid
- you need a production-ready, stable FreeBSD distribution
- you want upstream NixOS on Linux
- you need broad package support or polished installer media

## Facets
- artifact type: infra-config
- maturity: experimental
- function: infrastructure-as-code, configuration-management, build-tool, package-manager
- domain: operating-systems, developer-tools, self-hosted
- platform: bsd, cli
- tags: nixos, freebsd, declarative-os, reproducible-builds, nixpkgs-fork, bsd-distribution, linux, nix

## Member repositories
- nixos-bsd/nixbsd (main) score 67

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:17.570576+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:07:40.183235+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/nixos-bsd/nixbsd (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:17.570576+00:00, sha 1f267a917a1e)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.