System - Raspbian (Jessie):
sudo apt-get install npm
sudo npm install -g n
sudo n stable
Now I have two instances of node.
/usr/bin/node -v returns v0.10.29
/usr/local/bin/node -v returns v6.2.1
Question:
sudo apt-get purge nodejs has a laundry list of packages that will be removed. Is it safe to purge these dependencies? Is the instance in /usr/local/bin self-contained or does it rely on these pre-existing packages? Will node red still work?
So I ran:
sudo apt-get purge nodejs
Unfortunately, it did impact my ability to call node -v.
I was able to find where all the symbolic links using:
sudo find / -name "node" | less
Then I removed them and created a new one using:
sudo ln -s /usr/local/n/versions/node/6.2.2/bin/node /usr/local/bin/node
Now node -v returns v6.2.2 as expected.
EDIT:
Afterward, my Pi was having difficulty locating node pacakages I installed. I was able to remedy this by adding /usr/local/n/versions/node/6.2.2/bin to my $PATH environment variable.
To test if it will work for you (without making permanent changes), you can simply type.
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/n/versions/node/6.2.2/bin
If that worked, then you can permanently update your path variable by editing /etc/profile; the file where the $PATH variable gets set.
sudo nano /etc/profile
NOTE: You will need to replace 6.2.2 with your current version of node
I purged the original Node.js that comes pre-installed with the Pi and installed Node.js myself. The purge did indeed remove Node-RED and other Node based tools. After I installed the latest Node.js I then manually installed the packages I needed (such as Node-RED). I suffered no ill effects and ended up with exactly the set of installed packages at the correct levels that I wanted. My recommendation is to note the packages that are removed by a Node.js purge and decide which of them you want to have again.
I use Node.js extensively on the Pi and there has been no ill effects on me following this procedure.
