diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/nvi/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/nvi/default.nix
index 6f33758ce4f..db99b1ba676 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/nvi/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/nvi/default.nix
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     ln -s $out/share/man/man1/nvi.1 $out/share/man/man1/vi
     ln -s $out/share/man/man1/nvi.1 $out/share/man/man1/ex
     ln -s $out/share/man/man1/nvi.1 $out/share/man/man1/view
+    ln -s $out/bin/{,vi-}nvi # create a symlink so that all vi(m) users will find it
   '';
 
   meta = {
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/alsa-lib/alsa-plugin-dirs.patch b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/alsa-lib/alsa-plugin-dirs.patch
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2b6d6276c22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/alsa-lib/alsa-plugin-dirs.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+diff --git a/src/pcm/pcm.c b/src/pcm/pcm.c
+index 74d1d1a..17ffb12 100644
+--- a/src/pcm/pcm.c
++++ b/src/pcm/pcm.c
+@@ -2042,6 +2042,19 @@ static const char *const build_in_pcms[] = {
+ 	NULL
+ };
+ 
++
++// helper funcion used below
++int file_exists(const char * filename)
++{
++	FILE * file;
++	if (file = fopen(filename, "r"))
++	{
++		fclose(file);
++		return 1;
++	}
++	return 0;
++}
++
+ static int snd_pcm_open_conf(snd_pcm_t **pcmp, const char *name,
+ 			     snd_config_t *pcm_root, snd_config_t *pcm_conf,
+ 			     snd_pcm_stream_t stream, int mode)
+@@ -2141,8 +2154,38 @@ static int snd_pcm_open_conf(snd_pcm_t **pcmp, const char *name,
+ 				err = -ENOMEM;
+ 				goto _err;
+ 			}
+-			lib = buf1;
+ 			sprintf(buf1, "%s/libasound_module_pcm_%s.so", ALSA_PLUGIN_DIR, str);
++			if (!file_exists(buf1)){
++				// try to locate plugin in one of ALSA_PLUGIN_DIRS which is colon separated list of paths
++				char * pdirs = getenv("ALSA_PLUGIN_DIRS");
++
++				if (pdirs){ // env var set?
++					char * saveptr;
++					while (1) {
++						char * dir_tok = strtok_r(pdirs, "::::", &saveptr); // "::::" to work around bug in glibc and -O2 ? ":" seems to cause a segfault
++						if (dir_tok == NULL)
++                            break;
++						char * so_file = malloc(strlen(str) + strlen(dir_tok) + 32);
++						if (so_file == NULL) {
++							err = -ENOMEM;
++							goto _err;
++						}
++
++						sprintf(so_file, "%s/libasound_module_pcm_%s.so", dir_tok, str);
++
++						if (file_exists(so_file)){
++
++							free(buf1);
++							buf1 = so_file;
++							break;
++						} else {
++							free (so_file);
++						}
++						pdirs = NULL;
++					}
++				}
++			}
++			lib = buf1;
+ 		}
+ 	}
+ #ifndef PIC
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/alsa-lib/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/alsa-lib/default.nix
index 4918638b2a1..ad9f5551afe 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/alsa-lib/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/alsa-lib/default.nix
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   # Fix pcm.h file in order to prevent some compilation bugs
   patchPhase = ''
     sed -i -e 's|//int snd_pcm_mixer_element(snd_pcm_t \*pcm, snd_mixer_t \*mixer, snd_mixer_elem_t \*\*elem);|/\*int snd_pcm_mixer_element(snd_pcm_t \*pcm, snd_mixer_t \*mixer, snd_mixer_elem_t \*\*elem);\*/|' include/pcm.h
+    unset patchPhase; patchPhase
   '';
   meta = {
     description = "ALSA, the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture libraries";
@@ -21,4 +22,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
     homepage = http://www.alsa-project.org/;
   };
+
+  patches = [
+    /* allow specifying alternatives alsa plugin locations using
+       export ALSA_PLUGIN_DIRS=$(nix-build -A alsaPlugins)/lib/alsa-lib */
+    ./alsa-plugin-dirs.patch
+  ];
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/alsa-plugins/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/alsa-plugins/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..094134fb942
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/alsa-plugins/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+args: with args;
+stdenv.mkDerivation {
+  name = "alsa-plugins-1.0.19";
+
+  src = fetchurl {
+    url = ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/plugins/alsa-plugins-1.0.19.tar.bz2;
+    sha256 = "000iqwlz93ykl0w19hw4qjh3gcw7f45ykmi91cw2m7dg4iy0igk7";
+  };
+
+  # TODO make this customizable
+  buildInputs = [pkgconfig alsaLib pulseaudio];
+
+
+  meta = { 
+    description = "plugins for alsa eg conneckt jack, pluseaudio applications easily to the daemons using alsa devices";
+    longDescription = "
+      use it like this: export ALSA_PLUGIN_DIRS=$(nix-build -A alsaPlugins)/lib/alsa-lib
+    ";
+    homepage = http://alsa-project.org;
+    license = "GPL2.1";
+    maintainers = [args.lib.maintainers.marcweber];
+    platforms = args.lib.platforms.linux;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 4fec47af7de..2ba3fb7dcd7 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -4884,6 +4884,10 @@ let
     inherit stdenv fetchurl;
   };
 
+  alsaPlugins = import ../os-specific/linux/alsa-plugins {
+    inherit fetchurl stdenv lib pkgconfig alsaLib pulseaudio;
+  };
+
   alsaUtils = import ../os-specific/linux/alsa-utils {
     inherit stdenv fetchurl alsaLib gettext ncurses;
   };