install-nodejs.sh

#!/bin/sh

CURRENT=$(node -v)

#version details
VERSION=$(curl -L -s http://nodejs.org/dist/latest/ \
    | egrep -o '[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' \
    | tail -n1)
PLATFORM=linux
ARCH=x64
PREFIX="$HOME/node-v$VERSION-$PLATFORM-$ARCH"

if test "v$VERSION" != "$CURRENT"; then
    echo "Installing node v$VERSION ..."
    mkdir -p "$PREFIX"

    #download binaries
    curl http://nodejs.org/dist/v$VERSION/node-v$VERSION-$PLATFORM-$ARCH.tar.gz \
      | tar xzvf - --strip-components=1 -C "$PREFIX"

    #remove former version
    sudo rm -fr $HOME/node-$CURRENT-$PLATFORM-$ARCH

    #remove former symlinks
    sudo rm -fr /usr/local/bin/node
    sudo rm -fr /usr/local/bin/npm

    #create symlinks
    sudo ln -s $HOME/node-v$VERSION-$PLATFORM-$ARCH/bin/node /usr/local/bin/node
    sudo ln -s $HOME/node-v$VERSION-$PLATFORM-$ARCH/bin/npm /usr/local/bin/npm

else
    echo "Latest stable version of node already installed."

fi

oneliner-nodejs.md

Starting with node v0.8.6, we're gonna be releasing official binary tarballs of the releases for the most common platform+architecture combos.

Here's a simple script that will install node using a simple curl | tar piping. By default the files will get installed into your HOME directory. Change the PREFIX variable to /usr/local if you're feeling ambitious (note: you may need to run this as root depending on the PREFIX).

Adapted to latest node version and for 64Bit Linux.

Install using $ bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://gist.github.com/matths/6170411/raw/install-nodejs.sh)"