Packaging Binary Distributions for Nix

Overview

Extract and patch binary packages within Nix builds for reproducibility. Core principle: Source from original archive directly, never from pre-extracted directories.

When to Use

Use when:

• Converting binary packages (.deb, .rpm, .tar.gz, .zip) to Nix derivations
• Packaging proprietary/closed-source software distributed as binaries
• Electron/GUI apps show "library not found" errors
• User provides pre-extracted binary contents
• Binary distributions need library path fixes

Don't use for:

• Software available in nixpkgs
• Source-based packages (use standard derivation)
• AppImages (use appimage-run or extract and patch)