diff --git a/doc/manual/development.xml b/doc/manual/development.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..58924658ca6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/manual/development.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+         xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
+
+<title>Development</title>
+
+<para>This chapter has some random notes on hacking on
+NixOS.</para>
+
+
+<section>
+
+<title>Building specific parts of NixOS</title>
+
+<para>
+
+<screen>
+$ nix-build system/system.nix \
+    --arg configuration "import /etc/nixos/configuration.nix" \
+    -A <replaceable>attr</replaceable></screen>
+
+where <replaceable>attr</replaceable> is an attribute in
+system/system.nix (e.g., <literal>bootStage1</literal>).</para>
+
+</section>
+
+
+<section>
+
+<title>Testing the installer</title>
+
+<para>Building, burning, and booting from an installation CD is rather
+tedious, so here is a quick way to see if the installer works
+properly:
+
+<screen>
+$ nix-build .../nixos/configuration/rescue-cd.nix -A system.nixosInstall
+$ dd if=/dev/zero of=diskimage seek=2G count=0 bs=1
+$ yes | mke2fs -j diskimage
+$ mount -o loop diskimage /mnt
+$ ./result/bin/nixos-install</screen>
+
+</para>
+
+</section>
+
+
+</chapter>
diff --git a/doc/manual/installation.xml b/doc/manual/installation.xml
index fe3a1a7e72e6..f9c7743b23a6 100644
--- a/doc/manual/installation.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/installation.xml
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ $ lvcreate --size 1G --name smalldisk MyVolGroup</screen>
     those (e.g., copy
     <filename>/etc/nixos/nixos/configuration/examples/basic.nix</filename>
     to <filename>/etc/nixos/configuration.nix</filename>).  See <xref
-    linkend="sec-options"/> for a list of the available configuration
+    linkend="ch-options"/> for a list of the available configuration
     options.  The text editor <command>nano</command> is
     available.</para>
 
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ $ reboot</screen>
 
 <!--===============================================================-->
 
-<section>
+<section xml:id="sec-changing-config">
 
 <title>Changing the configuration</title>
 
@@ -238,4 +238,34 @@ whether everything compiles cleanly.</para>
 </section>
 
 
+
+<!--===============================================================-->
+
+<section>
+
+<title>Keeping NixOS up to date</title>
+
+<para>The currently best way to keep your NixOS installation up to
+date is to track the NixOS Subversion repository.  You should replace
+the static NixOS/Nixpkgs sources installed in
+<filename>/etc/nixos</filename> with a Subversion checkout.  The
+program <command>nixos-checkout</command> does that for you (and it
+also installs Subversion into your current profile).</para>
+
+<para>To build the latest and greatest, do
+
+<screen>
+$ svn up /etc/nixos/nixos
+$ svn up /etc/nixos/nixpkgs
+$ nixos-rebuild switch</screen>
+
+(Or instead of <literal>switch</literal>, use any of the alternatives
+shown in <xref linkend="sec-changing-config"/>.)</para>
+
+
+</section>
+
+
+
+
 </chapter>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/manual.xml b/doc/manual/manual.xml
index 51834234fb81..52313de1d8df 100644
--- a/doc/manual/manual.xml
+++ b/doc/manual/manual.xml
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
   
 
   <xi:include href="installation.xml" />
+  <xi:include href="development.xml" />
   <xi:include href="options-db.xml" />
 
 </book>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/manual/options-to-docbook.xsl b/doc/manual/options-to-docbook.xsl
index 5f83cca474bd..3516a043900b 100644
--- a/doc/manual/options-to-docbook.xsl
+++ b/doc/manual/options-to-docbook.xsl
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
   
   <xsl:template match="/expr/list">
 
-    <chapter xml:id="sec-options">
+    <chapter xml:id="ch-options">
       <title>List of Options</title>
 
       <variablelist>