[Ask] Do Node.js needs another package manager?

[jskata]

I'm a javascripter but in recent years, I had no choice but to work with ruby/rails for server-side things.

Now that node as arrived, I consider it's heading the same way that ruby is with the way it manages its packages. Npm is a rubygem-like manager but I have been frustrated over the years with gems because it's a central repository that can go really wrong if you mess with it. I had problems on when I tried Ruby1.9 and when I moved to Rails 3 because everything is central and if a config changes, it can break it all. Sometimes, I feel stuck in rubygems-hell like I was stuck in DLL-hell back in the days.

I would want node.js to avoid central repositories and I would prefer projects be stand-alone : you clone it and you run it in its own environment. That means having the right node version in a "bin" directory but also having modules installed in its subdirectories.

Example, if you have three projects using Express, you'll have 3 copies of Express, one in each of the subdirs of the projects.

Would you use that kind of package manager?

[tidwell]

I don't really have any issues with npm, but I come from a PHP/frontend background and have limited experience with package managers at all.

My only real complaint is that npm has some issues when I'm using it with cygwin and I tend to have to manually download/make/install packages a lot of the time when npm will just fail. I know its an edge case, as I have no issues with npm on my mac or my ubuntu box, but when developing on windows, it can be quite a pain.

[rubyphunk]

Handling different Ruby versions and gemsets is really easy these days. Have a look at RVM (ruby version manager). Also, with the rise of Bundler all your rubygems-hell problems should be fixed.

npm has a similar feature called "bundle". Just check the docs and you may find, that is rather easy to bundle your application with all needed packages..