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nixpkgs/doc/using/platform-support.chapter.md
Julian Stecklina ce57f12940 doc/using: clarify security support status
This is currently the status quo as per discussion in the NixOS
Security Discussions channel. Let's state it clearly to avoid people
being surprised.
2026-07-16 10:23:09 +02:00

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# Platform Support {#chap-platform-support}
Packages receive varying degrees of support, both in terms of maintainer and security team attention and available computation resources for continuous integration (CI). We have 7 defined tiers denoting how well supported each platform is.
## Tiers {#sec-platform-tiers}
### Tier 1 {#sec-platform-tier1}
[Tier 1](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-1) platforms receive the highest level of support where problems can block updates, security fixes are treated with urgency, platform-specific patches are freely applied, and most packages are expected to work.
### Tier 2 {#sec-platform-tier2}
[Tier 2](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-2) platforms are expected to remain functional and secure with updates, receive platform-specific patches as needed, and have many packages built by Hydra with full ofBorg support.
### Tier 3 {#sec-platform-tier3}
[Tier 3](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-3) platforms may receive non-intrusive platform-specific fixes, have native bootstrap tools available with cross-build toolchains in binary cache, but updates might break builds on these platforms.
### Tier 4-7 {#sec-platform-tier4-7}
Platform Tiers [4 through 7](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-4) indicate varying levels of minimal support going from receiving only limited fixes to platforms with no support, but a path to support.
## Breakdown {#sec-platform-breakdown}
| Triple | Support Tier | Channel Blockers | Hydra Support | Security Support | Ofborg Support | Bootstrap Tarballs | Cross Compiling Support |
|---------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------|---------------|------------------|----------------|--------------------|-------------------------|
| `x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu` | [Tier 1](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-1) | Many | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| `aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu` | [Tier 2](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-2) | Some | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| `x86_64-unknown-linux-musl` | [Tier 3](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-3) | None | Limited | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| `aarch64-unknown-linux-musl` | [Tier 3](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-3) | None | Limited | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| `x86_64-unknown-unknown-freebsd` | [Tier 3](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-3) | None | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| `arm64-apple-darwin` | [Tier 2](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-2) | Some | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| `i686-unknown-linux-gnu` | [Tier 3](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-3) | None | Limited | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| `riscv32-unknown-linux-gnu` | [Tier 4](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-4) | None | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| `riscv64-unknown-linux-gnu` | [Tier 3](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-3) | None | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| `loongarch64-unknown-linux-gnu` | [Tier 3](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-3) | None | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| `armv6l-unknown-linux-gnueabihf` | [Tier 3](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-3) | None | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| `armv6l-unknown-linux-musleabihf` | [Tier 3](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-3) | None | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| `armv7l-unknown-linux-gnueabihf` | [Tier 3](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-3) | None | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| `armv5tel-unknown-linux-gnueabi` | [Tier 3](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-3) | None | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| `mips64el-unknown-linux-gnuabi64` | [Tier 3](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-3) | None | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| `mips64el-unknown-linux-gnuabin32` | [Tier 3](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-3) | None | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| `mipsel-unknown-linux-gnu` | [Tier 3](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-3) | None | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| `powerpc64-unknown-linux-gnuabielfv2` | [Tier 3](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-3) | None | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| `powerpc64le-unknown-linux-gnu` | [Tier 3](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-3) | None | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| `s390x-unknown-linux-gnu` | [Tier 3](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0046-platform-support-tiers.md#tier-3) | None | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |