Leland Batey Text relating to computers

In attempting to install and use node today, I ran into an interesting conflict with Ubuntu/Debian.

Finding the Problem

• I wanted to compile a less file to a css file for a web page (actually this blog). This requires installing the less package for node.js using npm (the Node Package Manager).
• After installing the less using npm, I tried to run it. It did nothing. By nothing, I mean that it truly did not do a single thing. On the command line, it looked like this:

leland@teraHome: ~/projects/lelandbatey.com $ lessc lfb.less leland@teraHome: ~/projects/lelandbatey.com $

Nothing brought a response, nothing at all. Not lessc --help, not lessc -v, not anything. I was perplexed, since I’ve never had a program be totally unresponsive to anything at all.

• Running a “which lessc” tells me where lessc is, and examinging it shows me that it’s a totally valid node program.
• The next logical step is to check if node is working correctly. As it turns out, running node on the command line is totally non-responsive.
• Checking where node is and what it is, I see the following:

leland@teraHome: ~/projects/lelandbatey.com $ file /usr/sbin/node /usr/sbin/node: symbolic link to `ax25-node'

• It seems I’ve found the problem!

What Exactly is the Problem?

The problem is that many node programs (including lessc) assume that the node interpreter can be accessed via the command node. However, on my system (and maybe many others) it turns out that the system command node is linked to another program, ax25-node.

Fixing the Problem

Since ax25-node is a package that’s for use with HAM Radio, I feel it’s safe to change that link from ax25-node to nodejs. I do that with the following command:

leland@teraHome: ~ $ sudo mv node oldnode && sudo ln /usr/bin/nodejs /usr/bin/node

With that done, node and lessc now work properly.