node.js port question and misinformation?

[Tabitha McNerney]

Hello All -

I'm becoming more interested in using node.js and am grateful to the
Macports community for creating and maintaining a port dedicated to node.js
(specifically the "nodejs" port). As I'm coming up to speed and learning
about node.js, its founder and core maintainer, Ryan Dahl, has an
introductory educational video on YouTube and included in the main nodejs
web site < http://nodejs.org/ > ... and the beginning of this video, he
emphasizes that its more important to get the node.js code itself and
compile it from source on one's own machine (i.e., configure, make, make
install ) instead of using a package management system and he specifically
names MacPorts! I'm surprised he mentioned MacPorts because when doing the
following:

# port install nodejs


The stages of an install include configuring / making and installing from
source

Perhaps what Ryan Dahl meant was to avoid downloading precompiled binaries
and / or precompiled libraries? Forgive me if I have forgotten, but I never
download precompiled binaries via MacPorts (at least that that I'm aware of)
and am always in the habit of "port install xyz" (although I suppose that a
"port install xyz" does not necessarily preclude the port config file from
fetching pre-compiled binaries or libraries true?).

So in a nutshell, is there any reason to really avoid using MacPorts when it
comes to node.js?

I hope my question can help clear up any accidental misinformation or
preconceived notions about MacPorts.

Thank you,

-Tabitha
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