diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/usernixos/activation.nix b/pkgs/build-support/usernixos/activation.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..2e3f0af2bf77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/usernixos/activation.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+{ pkgs, config, ... }:
+
+let
+  script = pkgs.writeScriptBin "usernixos" (''
+    #!${pkgs.bash}/bin/bash
+  '' + config.activationContents);
+in
+with pkgs.lib;
+{
+  options = {
+    activation = mkOption {
+      default = {};
+    };
+
+    activationContents = mkOption {
+      default = "";
+      internal = true;
+      merge = concatStringsSep "\n";
+      description = ''
+        Commands to run at activation
+      '';
+    };
+  };
+
+  config.activation.toplevel = script;
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/usernixos/bashrc.nix b/pkgs/build-support/usernixos/bashrc.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1860f4b2e89c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/usernixos/bashrc.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+# Generator for .bashrc
+{pkgs, config, ...}:
+
+with pkgs.lib;
+
+let
+  bashrcFile = pkgs.writeScript "bashrc" config.bashrc.contents;
+  cfg = config.bashrc;
+in
+{
+  options = {
+    environment.editor = mkOption {
+      default = "${pkgs.vim}/bin/vim";
+      type = types.string;
+      description = ''
+        Editor
+      '';
+    };
+
+    bashrc = {
+      enable = mkOption {
+        default = false;
+        type = types.bool;
+        description = ''
+          Enable of .bashrc generation on activation
+        '';
+      };
+
+      destination = mkOption {
+        default = "~/.bashrc";
+        type = types.string;
+        description = ''
+          The symlink that will point to the generated bashrc at activation time
+        '';
+      };
+
+      contents = mkOption {
+        default = "";
+        type = types.string;
+        merge = concatStringsSep "\n";
+        description = ''
+          Enable of .bashrc generation on activation
+        '';
+      };
+    };
+  };
+
+  config.bashrc.contents = ''
+    export EDITOR="${config.environment.editor}"
+  '';
+
+  config.activationContents = mkIf cfg.enable ''
+    if [ -e "${cfg.destination}" ]; then
+      echo Cannot set "${cfg.destination}", it exists
+      exit 1
+    fi
+    ln -sf ${bashrcFile} "${cfg.destination}"
+  '';
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/usernixos/eval-config.nix b/pkgs/build-support/usernixos/eval-config.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..300ddd2444e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/usernixos/eval-config.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+{ system ? builtins.currentSystem
+, pkgs ? null
+, baseModules ? import ./module-list.nix
+, extraArgs ? {}
+, modules
+}:
+
+let extraArgs_ = extraArgs; pkgs_ = pkgs; system_ = system; in
+
+rec {
+
+  # These are the NixOS modules that constitute the system configuration.
+  configComponents = modules ++ baseModules;
+
+  # Merge the option definitions in all modules, forming the full
+  # system configuration.  It's not checked for undeclared options.
+  systemModule =
+    pkgs.lib.fixMergeModules configComponents extraArgs;
+
+  optionDefinitions = systemModule.config;
+  optionDeclarations = systemModule.options;
+  inherit (systemModule) options;
+
+  # These are the extra arguments passed to every module.  In
+  # particular, Nixpkgs is passed through the "pkgs" argument.
+  extraArgs = extraArgs_ // {
+    inherit pkgs modules baseModules;
+  };
+
+  config = systemModule.config;
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/usernixos/module-list.nix b/pkgs/build-support/usernixos/module-list.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..2aa5329940bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/usernixos/module-list.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+[
+  ./activation.nix
+  ./bashrc.nix
+]
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 00b810a64394..1299081d5167 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -353,6 +353,16 @@ let
     inherit pkgs lib;
   };
 
+  usernixos = let
+      configmodule = getConfig [ "usernixos" ] null;
+      eval = (import ../build-support/usernixos/eval-config.nix) {
+        inherit pkgs system;
+        modules = [ configmodule ];
+      };
+    in
+      assert configmodule != null;
+      eval.config.activation.toplevel;
+
   platforms = import ./platforms.nix;