diff --git a/pkgs/tools/package-management/nix/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/package-management/nix/default.nix
index e659a1f1b03..55f5b0aedc9 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/package-management/nix/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/package-management/nix/default.nix
@@ -69,7 +69,14 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     # due to builder args bug; see
     # https://github.com/NixOS/nix/commit/b224ac15201c57b40ea855f5a98b1bd166c1c7f6
     broken = stdenv.isDarwin;
-    description = "The Nix Deployment System";
+    description = "Powerful package manager that makes package management reliable and reproducible";
+    longDescription = ''
+      Nix is a powerful package manager for Linux and other Unix systems that
+      makes package management reliable and reproducible. It provides atomic
+      upgrades and rollbacks, side-by-side installation of multiple versions of
+      a package, multi-user package management and easy setup of build
+      environments.
+    '';
     homepage = http://nixos.org/;
     license = stdenv.lib.licenses.lgpl2Plus;
     maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.eelco ];