diff --git a/pkgs/development/haskell-modules/configuration-nix.nix b/pkgs/development/haskell-modules/configuration-nix.nix
index ff1d115f64079..c53a5903c2c00 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/haskell-modules/configuration-nix.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/haskell-modules/configuration-nix.nix
@@ -859,14 +859,14 @@ self: super: builtins.intersectAttrs super {
     (overrideCabal { doCheck = pkgs.postgresql.doCheck; })
   ];
 
-  cachix = super.cachix.override { nix = pkgs.nixVersions.nix_2_9; };
+  cachix = super.cachix.override { nix = pkgs.nixVersions.nix_2_10; };
 
-  hercules-ci-agent = super.hercules-ci-agent.override { nix = pkgs.nixVersions.nix_2_9; };
+  hercules-ci-agent = super.hercules-ci-agent.override { nix = pkgs.nixVersions.nix_2_10; };
   hercules-ci-cnix-expr =
     addTestToolDepend pkgs.git (
-      super.hercules-ci-cnix-expr.override { nix = pkgs.nixVersions.nix_2_9; }
+      super.hercules-ci-cnix-expr.override { nix = pkgs.nixVersions.nix_2_10; }
     );
-  hercules-ci-cnix-store = super.hercules-ci-cnix-store.override { nix = pkgs.nixVersions.nix_2_9; };
+  hercules-ci-cnix-store = super.hercules-ci-cnix-store.override { nix = pkgs.nixVersions.nix_2_10; };
 
   # the testsuite fails because of not finding tsc without some help
   aeson-typescript = overrideCabal (drv: {
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/language-servers/rnix-lsp/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/language-servers/rnix-lsp/default.nix
index a587f87b3da74..cc3367358a142 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/language-servers/rnix-lsp/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/language-servers/rnix-lsp/default.nix
@@ -2,16 +2,16 @@
 
 rustPlatform.buildRustPackage rec {
   pname = "rnix-lsp";
-  version = "0.2.5";
+  version = "unstable-2022-11-27";
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "nix-community";
     repo = "rnix-lsp";
-    rev = "v${version}";
-    sha256 = "sha256-WXpj2fgduYlF4t0QEvdfV1Eft8/nFXWF2zyEBKMUEIk=";
+    rev = "95d40673fe43642e2e1144341e86d0036abd95d9";
+    sha256 = "sha256-F0s0m62S5bHNVWNHLZD6SeHiLrsDx98VQbRjDyIu+qQ=";
   };
 
-  cargoSha256 = "sha256-LfbmOhZJVthsLm8lnzHvEt7Vy27y4w4wpPfrf/s3s84=";
+  cargoSha256 = "sha256-RKHBp+/bEH9FEPLcf1MKmTugk1A8rQU447mNm9Le3DE=";
 
   checkInputs = lib.optional (!stdenv.isDarwin) nix;
 
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/package-management/nix/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/package-management/nix/default.nix
index fd07336b0d34c..d0bff934ee613 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/package-management/nix/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/package-management/nix/default.nix
@@ -59,47 +59,13 @@ in lib.makeExtensible (self: {
 
   nix_2_5 = throw "nixVersions.nix_2_5 has been removed";
 
-  # This is the last version of nix where https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/6572
-  # is not an unsolved breaking bug. Please keep it until the issue is fixed
-  # and in latest stable nix.
-  nix_2_6 = common {
-    version = "2.6.1";
-    sha256 = "sha256-E9iQ7f+9Z6xFcUvvfksTEfn8LsDfzmwrcRBC//5B3V0=";
-  };
+  nix_2_6 = throw "nixVersions.nix_2_6 has been removed";
 
-  nix_2_7 = common {
-    version = "2.7.0";
-    sha256 = "sha256-m8tqCS6uHveDon5GSro5yZor9H+sHeh+v/veF1IGw24=";
-    patches = [
-      # remove when there's a 2.7.1 release
-      # https://github.com/NixOS/nix/pull/6297
-      # https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/6243
-      # https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/163374
-      (fetchpatch {
-        url = "https://github.com/NixOS/nix/commit/c9afca59e87afe7d716101e6a75565b4f4b631f7.patch";
-        sha256 = "sha256-xz7QnWVCI12lX1+K/Zr9UpB93b10t1HS9y/5n5FYf8Q=";
-      })
-    ];
-  };
+  nix_2_7 = throw "nixVersions.nix_2_7 has been removed";
 
-  nix_2_8 = common {
-    version = "2.8.1";
-    sha256 = "sha256-zldZ4SiwkISFXxrbY/UdwooIZ3Z/I6qKxtpc3zD0T/o=";
-  };
+  nix_2_8 = throw "nixVersions.nix_2_8 has been removed";
 
-  nix_2_9 = common {
-    version = "2.9.2";
-    sha256 = "sha256-uZCaBo9rdWRO/AlQMvVVjpAwzYijB2H5KKQqde6eHkg=";
-    patches = [
-      (fetchpatch {
-        # https://github.com/NixOS/nix/pull/7283
-        name = "fix-requires-non-existing-output.patch";
-        url = "https://github.com/NixOS/nix/commit/3ade5f5d6026b825a80bdcc221058c4f14e10a27.patch";
-        sha256 = "sha256-s1ybRFCjQaSGj7LKu0Z5g7UiHqdJGeD+iPoQL0vaiS0=";
-      })
-      patch-sqlite-exception
-    ];
-  };
+  nix_2_9 = throw "nixVersions.nix_2_9 has been removed";
 
   nix_2_10 = common {
     version = "2.10.3";
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/package-management/packagekit/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/package-management/packagekit/default.nix
index d3a9e2ee3bdd1..95fecd2085068 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/package-management/packagekit/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/package-management/packagekit/default.nix
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 , gobject-introspection
 , vala
 , gtk-doc
-, nix
 , boost
 , meson
 , ninja
@@ -48,7 +47,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     gst_all_1.gst-plugins-base
     gtk3
     sqlite
-    nix
     boost
   ] ++ lib.optional enableSystemd systemd
   ++ lib.optional enableBashCompletion bash-completion;
@@ -69,7 +67,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   mesonFlags = [
     (if enableSystemd then "-Dsystemd=true" else "-Dsystem=false")
-    "-Dpackaging_backend=nix"
+    # often fails to build with nix updates
+    # and remounts /nix/store as rw
+    # https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/177946
+    #"-Dpackaging_backend=nix"
     "-Ddbus_sys=${placeholder "out"}/share/dbus-1/system.d"
     "-Ddbus_services=${placeholder "out"}/share/dbus-1/system-services"
     "-Dsystemdsystemunitdir=${placeholder "out"}/lib/systemd/system"
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index a87f99d63d082..cb8ba1fb34607 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -10390,7 +10390,7 @@ with pkgs;
 
   p7zip = callPackage ../tools/archivers/p7zip { };
 
-  packagekit = callPackage ../tools/package-management/packagekit { nix = nixVersions.nix_2_8; };
+  packagekit = callPackage ../tools/package-management/packagekit { };
 
   packetdrill = callPackage ../tools/networking/packetdrill { };
 
@@ -16625,7 +16625,7 @@ with pkgs;
 
   nil = callPackage ../development/tools/language-servers/nil { };
 
-  rnix-lsp = callPackage ../development/tools/language-servers/rnix-lsp { nix = nixVersions.nix_2_9; };
+  rnix-lsp = callPackage ../development/tools/language-servers/rnix-lsp { };
 
   sumneko-lua-language-server = darwin.apple_sdk_11_0.callPackage ../development/tools/language-servers/sumneko-lua-language-server {
     inherit (darwin.apple_sdk_11_0.frameworks) CoreFoundation Foundation;