symlink `npm`, `node` to /usr/loca/bin

[circleci-public]

symlink `npm`, `node` to /usr/loca/bin

[felicianotech]

@JalexChen Does this work for us or does it contradict the recent recommendation we had of not using sudo?

[ryuheechul]

use cases of symlinking to /usr/local/bin shouldn't be limited to sudo in my opinion.
one example, entering with different shell than bash.

[JalexChen]

The symlink was utilized before in #236 but was removed at some point. IIRC it was because of attempting to use $PREFIX with workspaces and we thought it was an issue with nvm, but there is nothing wrong with the symlink.

@felicianotech i think the issue with using sudo was with npm. I think implementing the symlink for node doesn't hurt, but you shouldn't need to use sudo at all when using nvm. @ryuheechul, is there a specific reason you need this?

[ryuheechul]

@JalexChen thanks for your reply and explanation and here are my response to that.

you shouldn't need to use sudo at all when using nvm

I agree that it's a good practice but the image shouldn't make the decision for users on that. Also some script might need sudo and npm at the same time and it might natural to call that script like below

$ cat <<EOF> script-that-needs-sudo.sh
command-that-fail-if-not-sudo
npm ...
node ...
EOF

# this will fail to find `node` and `npm`
$ sudo script-that-needs-sudo.sh

Although the better version for it should be like below, there is no guarantee that every one write like this including potential third party or unfamiliar dependencies.

$ cat <<EOF> script-that-needs-sudo-only-for-certain-commands.sh
sudo command-that-fail-if-not-sudo
npm ...
node ...
EOF

$ script-that-needs-sudo-only-for-certain-commands.sh

is there a specific reason you need this?

Yes. The specific reason for me: node, npm to be discoverable from any shell not just from bash, and even when there is no additional path is added to $PATH. Using sudo happen to fall in category.
I personally avoid using sudo as much as possible, but that might not be the case for others in a team.

I think these reasons alone are good enough to justify enabling this capability:

• node and npm was under /usr/local/bin/ from 17.* images
• installing node in "regular" way result in binary discoverable under /usr/local/bin/
• official node image binaries are under /usr/local/bin/ and it's reasonable for people to expect the similarity between the official node image and cimg/node

  $ docker run --rm -it node:18-slim bash
  root@4afe58bcb460:/# which node
  /usr/local/bin/node
  root@4afe58bcb460:/# which npm
  /usr/local/bin/npm
  

Otherwise, people might just run commands like below (or whatever other hacks) themselves at some point in the CircleCI steps and feel that the image is "not that convenient".

sudo ln -s "$NVM_DIR/versions/node/$(nvm version)/bin/node" "/usr/local/bin/node"
sudo ln -s "$NVM_DIR/versions/node/$(nvm version)/bin/npm" "/usr/local/bin/npm"

[JalexChen]

hey @ryuheechul - i think these are all valid and after deliberation, we've decided to move away from nvm, especially since the cimg's should still be deterministic and reflect one specific version of node. We'll be re-implementing this shortly and sudo functionality will point to the node and npm versions in /usr/local/bin

[ryuheechul]

Hi @JalexChen, sounds good to hear and moving away from nvm seems to be the right choice 👍🏼.
Thanks a lot for the update!