

Try Node.js for 2¢ or less in ~2 minutes - DTrejo
http://blog.nowjs.com/get-started-with-nodejs-for-002-and-two-minut

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cosbynator
Are there really that many people that want to code a Node.js app but can't
set up an quick ubuntu image using virtualbox? EC2 as a dev environment seems
a bit backwards.

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jhuckestein
I use EC2 for development (I commute via bike so I don't usually work offline)
and it's the best environment I've ever coded in.

In fact, I can even code and fix things from my iPad, your iPad, anyones
computer, my phone, a library kiosk or an airplane cockpit.

If I want to try something experimental (aka dist upgrade etc), I just clone
the AMI, make my modifications, and if I like it, I keep it.

My emacs looks exactly the same, where ever I am. If I need to get to a
different computer, I still log in through my EC2 instance, where all servers
I need are accessible via convenient shortcuts and the appropriate port
forwarding is configured already. And, again, I can do this from wherever I
am.

How is that backwards?

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drivebyacct2
How is that superior to having a nice desktop that you can shell/nx into?

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jhuckestein
OTTOMH: create different configurations that you only need for one project,
experiment with cutting edge software, increase CPU, memory and disk on the
fly ...

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drivebyacct2
For a development environment? What?

Especially with node.js that simply doesn't make sense.

If you're running it with users on it which would actually need CPU, memory or
disk, duh I would run it on EC2.

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jrockway
This is easier than ./configure && make?

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ericz
The posts targets users not familiar with nix systems as well. Often times,
it's not as simple as ./configure && make. There are dependencies that need to
be satisfied and PATHs that need to be configured (depending on your distro).
That was a huge headache for us when we first setup production servers on EC2.

I understand that it may seem silly to setup an EC2 account when the
accustomed nix user can install Node much more easily, but hey, who doesn't
like a year of free dedicated hosting thanks to Amazon?

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jrockway
_The posts targets users not familiar with nix systems as well._

So the idea is to convince them to run servers connected directly to the
Internet without any system administration skills? No wonder I get so much
spam.

Somehow I think distributing binaries would be the logical solution to
"node.js is hard to compile", not convincing people with no UNIX experience to
pay Amazon $70 a month to let them run their very own server. But that's just
me.

(I have personally compiled node from source on Debian and RHEL5. It was easy
on both machines. The hardest part was to get waf to use all 32 cores on that
RHEL machine for the build. But it's actually documented in the node docs!)

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DTrejo
I think the idea is that for newcomers it will be free, because amazon is
nice.

Also, according to other comments it seemed that paths were the problem, not
binaries.

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mwdev
I spent the past week getting node.js up and running. This guide helps a ton.
Thanks for doing this.

On the other hand I've learned more about unix in the last week than I ever
wanted to know. I'm now happily hacking away at my code on my ec2 instance
using vim and all sorts of funky commands. I still have no idea what nginx is
supposed to do, but I did figure out how to turn it off. Yeah, me.

So, if like me, you've never logged into a unix box, you may actually want to
try one of the harder guides. It will teach you a ton.

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cellis
May not be the place for this, but I'm curious what everyone is using as a
node.js deployment workflow? I'm very tempted to stick to my old fabric fab
file.

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ladon86
I'm using Capistrano, which is pulling my code from Github, with a bunch of
custom scripts to minify my static assets and send them off to a CDN. If
you've got a fab file that works for you, there's no reason not to stick with
it.

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jimmyjazz14
Seems like passing out a small VirtualBox image with Linux and node installed
on it already would be easier.

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evan_
uh, no it doesn't

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reustle
Eric Zhang (NowJS guy) has been extremely active over the past few weeks.
Kudos!

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DTrejo
Note: if you've never used EC2 before, you get a year of node for free!

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dshankar
This AMI is only for US West

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cellis
i setup a ubuntu 10.10 64 instance in virginia; they're not charging me

