diff --git a/lib/builders/build-fds-env.nix b/lib/builders/build-fds-env.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1eadb314
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/builders/build-fds-env.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{ buildEnv, extendedStdenv }:
+
+{ paths ? [ ], pathsToLink ? [ ], }@args:
+
+buildEnv (args // {
+  paths = paths ++ [ extendedStdenv ];
+  pathsToLink = pathsToLink ++ [ "/bin" "/etc" "/share" "/lib" ];
+})
diff --git a/lib/builders/default.nix b/lib/builders/default.nix
index 0ece6780..4b62510a 100644
--- a/lib/builders/default.nix
+++ b/lib/builders/default.nix
@@ -5,4 +5,6 @@
   makeXDGPortalConfiguration = pkgs.callPackage ./xdg/make-portal-config.nix { };
   makeXDGDesktopEntry = pkgs.callPackage ./xdg/make-desktop-entry.nix { };
   buildHugoSite = pkgs.callPackage ./hugo-build-site { };
+  buildFDSEnv =
+    pkgs.callPackage ./build-fds-env.nix { extendedStdenv = self.stdenv; };
 }
diff --git a/lib/default.nix b/lib/default.nix
index ff2b993c..4b480f30 100644
--- a/lib/default.nix
+++ b/lib/default.nix
@@ -20,6 +20,21 @@ pkgs.lib.makeExtensible
     math = callLib ./math.nix;
     fetchers = callLib ./fetchers;
 
+    # foodogsquared's version of a standard environment. Basically just an
+    # extended version of nixpkgs' version that went overboard with
+    # developer-oriented dependencies.
+    stdenv = with pkgs;
+      [ stdenv direnv cookiecutter oils-for-unix nushell ipcalc ]
+      ++ lib.optional pkgs.isLinux [
+        gdb
+        moreutils
+        meson
+        ninja
+        pkg-config
+        man-pages
+        man-pages-posix
+      ];
+
     inherit (self.builders) makeXDGMimeAssociationList
       makeXDGPortalConfiguration makeXDGDesktopEntry;
     inherit (self.trivial) countAttrs filterAttrs';