11 ms·

Node v4.2.0 (Stable)

98 points by kenOfYugen 11y ago

yefim 11y ago
Good to see the pace of Node development since the merger with io.js. Awesome job, Node team!
ausjke 11y ago
"We are proud to announce the release of Node.js v4.2.0 "Argon", the first release covered under the new Long Term Support plan! As an LTS release, support for v4.x will continue for a period of 30 months from today." I'm a bit lost here, so 4.2.0 is the _first_ LTS, v4.x will be supported by 30 months, what about 4.0.0 then? isn't 4.0.0 also v4.x? but it's not LTS? Shoud we replace v4.x above with v4.2.x instead?
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- tracker1 11y ago
  I'm pretty sure they do mean 4.2.x will be supported for 30 months... wouldn't expect to see updates to 4.0.x or 4.1.x in that vein.
  - netcraft 11y ago
    Here is more information: https://github.com/nodejs/LTS/ https://github.com/nodejs/LTS/ Specifically: > Note that while it is possible that critical security and bug fixes may lead to semver-major changes landing within an LTS stream, such situations will be rare and will land as semver-minor bumps
- watson 11y ago
  As far as I remember this is how it works: Starting from 4.x, every 2nd major version of Node will be LTS (4.x, 6.x etc). But we should expect a few of the early versions of each of these major versions to not be LTS - hence 4.0.x and 4.1.x didn't count as LTS when they were initially released. But Node is now using Semantic Versioning [1], which mean that there will not be any breaking changes between each 4.x release. So 4.2.x is backwards compatible with 4.1.x and 4.0.x. And 4.3.x will be backwards compatible to 4.2.x etc. So in essence the entire 4.x branch will therefore be LTS counting from today. So even if we in 29 months release 4.22.0, this will not extend the 30 months. [1] http://semver.org http://semver.org
  - nevi-me 11y ago
    What happens 9 months down the line when v8 stable reaches 48.x? I thought that under semver Node would most likely be a semver-major whenever v8 is the same. If my assumption is correct, how will we handle 6.x and 8.x a potential 18 months from now? Will the LTS maintainers have to worry about 3 LTS versions? I've been following most discussions on Github and TC meetings, but haven't come across this case yet.
    - lugg 11y ago
      From article, > As an LTS release, support for v4.x will continue for a period of 30 months from today. They will likely semver major node into 5/6 etc, but that doesn't change the fact that 4.x will continue with 2 and a half years of LTS. Not sure if that completely answers your question, and I could be wrong.
Already__Taken 11y ago
> npm: Upgrade to npm 2.14.7 from 2.14.4, see release notes for full details (Kat Marchán) #3299 Is that correct that npm 3.x with the flat node_modules isn't in the first lts tree? We're still very likely to run into path length problems on Windows? That would be a shame. I know 3.x doesn't fix it but anything to make it less likely is a win. Now we're screwed for nearly 3 years.
- tbrock 11y ago
  I'm not a node or npm apologist but it is seriously time Microsoft update what it considers a reasonable maximum PATH length for Windows to something that makes sense for this era of computing (as well as the tiny ass box you type it into) We are on a roll with resizable terminals that reflow text in Windows 10 though so I won't push my luck.
  - WorldMaker 11y ago
    It's not really a simple change: this is Microsoft respecting decades of API backward compatibility. New APIs support much higher PATH length, for what it is worth, it's just that a lot of software, for various accumulated reasons, rely on older APIs. For whatever their other faults, it's hard to blame Microsoft for treating backwards compatibility seriously. It's an amazing thing that in 2015 you can still run VB4-built Win32 application binaries built in 1995. (Not that I recommend people actually do so, given a choice in the matter, of course.)
    - jimmcslim 11y ago
      Agreed. But it still a bit disappointing that they haven't improved the GUI for editing the system path (as observed by the parent comment), but perhaps that also impacts backwards compatibility in some subtle way.
      - WorldMaker 11y ago
        The GUI has gotten a refresh in recent Windows 10 builds: http://www.ghacks.net/2015/09/22/microsoft-improves-environment-variables-editor-in-latest-windows-10-build/ http://www.ghacks.net/2015/09/22/microsoft-improves-environm...
cdubzzz 11y ago
Having just started learning about and using node, I read this release note and then this made me say to myself, "What the fuck?" [15:39 user@host ~] > node -v v0.10.25
- _RPM 11y ago
  Using your distributions package manager you'll get the older versions. I'm guessing you're using Ubuntu? Better off just compiling from source.
  - dahjelle 11y ago
    You can also use nodebrew[1], which also allows you to install multiple versions in parallel. [1] https://github.com/hokaccha/nodebrew https://github.com/hokaccha/nodebrew
    - brokentone 11y ago
      I prefer n[1], but others might like nvm[2] which is quite similar to rvm. [1] https://github.com/tj/n https://github.com/tj/n [2] https://github.com/creationix/nvm https://github.com/creationix/nvm
- amccloud 11y ago
  Node jumped from v0.x to v4.x when iojs merged back into node (something like a month ago)
  - bdcravens 11y ago
    Do note that even before that, node was on 0.12, and 0.10.25 is from April 2014.
- coldtea 11y ago
  >Having just started learning about and using node, I read this release note and then this made me say to myself, "What the fuck?" If you've started learning node, then it probably makes sense to follow the community portals and news too. In which case you'd known about io.js and the 4.x thing. In other words, get into the whole project / community / culture.
netcraft 11y ago
This is great news. A year ago we didn't know if Node would ever hit a 1.0 and now we have an LTS release. Congrats and thanks to everyone involved.
bru_ 11y ago
"We are proud to announce the release of Node.js v4.2.0 "Ganja", the first release covered under the new Long Term Support plan!"
octref 11y ago
Questions: 1. On your dev machine, if you are using 4.x, should you keep updating to the newest 4.x version or stay with this version? 2. If you keep updating and use a version manager like nvm, is there an easy way to install global packages(like gulp, grunt, etc) for new versions?
- falcolas 11y ago
  Depends on what you're running in production. As an admin, I'd say stick with the LTS releases. If you're not in production, or you can bundle your Node with your app (like in a container) then I'd vote for "go wild".
- shriek 11y ago
  For #2:- nvm copy-packages v(the version that you want to copy from) should do it.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
geuis 11y ago
This is good to hear. Gonna play hell with seo for my open source projects: https://github.com/geuis/argon https://github.com/geuis/argon https://github.com/geuis/helium-css https://github.com/geuis/helium-css
- dchest 11y ago
  Argon is also a password hash function: https://www.cryptolux.org/index.php/Argon https://www.cryptolux.org/index.php/Argon
cpeterso 11y ago
'J' is the first letter without an element name. Maybe a new element will be discovered and given a 'J' name before 2024. :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_elements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_elements
- myhf 11y ago
  Jargoon?
rmgraham 11y ago
There are a couple regressions in v4.2.0, but v4.2.1 should be out right away with fixes.

98 points by kenOfYugen 11y ago

yefim 11y ago

Good to see the pace of Node development since the merger with io.js. Awesome job, Node team!

"We are proud to announce the release of Node.js v4.2.0 "Argon", the first release covered under the new Long Term Support plan! As an LTS release, support for v4.x will continue for a period of 30 months from today." I'm a bit lost here, so 4.2.0 is the _first_ LTS, v4.x will be supported by 30 months, what about 4.0.0 then? isn't 4.0.0 also v4.x? but it's not LTS? Shoud we replace v4.x above with v4.2.x instead?

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
tracker1 11y ago
I'm pretty sure they do mean 4.2.x will be supported for 30 months... wouldn't expect to see updates to 4.0.x or 4.1.x in that vein.
- netcraft 11y ago
  Here is more information: https://github.com/nodejs/LTS/ https://github.com/nodejs/LTS/ Specifically: > Note that while it is possible that critical security and bug fixes may lead to semver-major changes landing within an LTS stream, such situations will be rare and will land as semver-minor bumps
watson 11y ago
As far as I remember this is how it works: Starting from 4.x, every 2nd major version of Node will be LTS (4.x, 6.x etc). But we should expect a few of the early versions of each of these major versions to not be LTS - hence 4.0.x and 4.1.x didn't count as LTS when they were initially released. But Node is now using Semantic Versioning [1], which mean that there will not be any breaking changes between each 4.x release. So 4.2.x is backwards compatible with 4.1.x and 4.0.x. And 4.3.x will be backwards compatible to 4.2.x etc. So in essence the entire 4.x branch will therefore be LTS counting from today. So even if we in 29 months release 4.22.0, this will not extend the 30 months. [1] http://semver.org http://semver.org
- nevi-me 11y ago
  What happens 9 months down the line when v8 stable reaches 48.x? I thought that under semver Node would most likely be a semver-major whenever v8 is the same. If my assumption is correct, how will we handle 6.x and 8.x a potential 18 months from now? Will the LTS maintainers have to worry about 3 LTS versions? I've been following most discussions on Github and TC meetings, but haven't come across this case yet.
  - lugg 11y ago
    From article, > As an LTS release, support for v4.x will continue for a period of 30 months from today. They will likely semver major node into 5/6 etc, but that doesn't change the fact that 4.x will continue with 2 and a half years of LTS. Not sure if that completely answers your question, and I could be wrong.

Already__Taken 11y ago

> npm: Upgrade to npm 2.14.7 from 2.14.4, see release notes for full details (Kat Marchán) #3299 Is that correct that npm 3.x with the flat node_modules isn't in the first lts tree? We're still very likely to run into path length problems on Windows? That would be a shame. I know 3.x doesn't fix it but anything to make it less likely is a win. Now we're screwed for nearly 3 years.

tbrock 11y ago
I'm not a node or npm apologist but it is seriously time Microsoft update what it considers a reasonable maximum PATH length for Windows to something that makes sense for this era of computing (as well as the tiny ass box you type it into) We are on a roll with resizable terminals that reflow text in Windows 10 though so I won't push my luck.
- WorldMaker 11y ago
  It's not really a simple change: this is Microsoft respecting decades of API backward compatibility. New APIs support much higher PATH length, for what it is worth, it's just that a lot of software, for various accumulated reasons, rely on older APIs. For whatever their other faults, it's hard to blame Microsoft for treating backwards compatibility seriously. It's an amazing thing that in 2015 you can still run VB4-built Win32 application binaries built in 1995. (Not that I recommend people actually do so, given a choice in the matter, of course.)
  - jimmcslim 11y ago
    Agreed. But it still a bit disappointing that they haven't improved the GUI for editing the system path (as observed by the parent comment), but perhaps that also impacts backwards compatibility in some subtle way.
    - WorldMaker 11y ago
      The GUI has gotten a refresh in recent Windows 10 builds: http://www.ghacks.net/2015/09/22/microsoft-improves-environment-variables-editor-in-latest-windows-10-build/ http://www.ghacks.net/2015/09/22/microsoft-improves-environm...

cdubzzz 11y ago

Having just started learning about and using node, I read this release note and then this made me say to myself, "What the fuck?" [15:39 user@host ~] > node -v v0.10.25

_RPM 11y ago
Using your distributions package manager you'll get the older versions. I'm guessing you're using Ubuntu? Better off just compiling from source.
- dahjelle 11y ago
  You can also use nodebrew[1], which also allows you to install multiple versions in parallel. [1] https://github.com/hokaccha/nodebrew https://github.com/hokaccha/nodebrew
  - brokentone 11y ago
    I prefer n[1], but others might like nvm[2] which is quite similar to rvm. [1] https://github.com/tj/n https://github.com/tj/n [2] https://github.com/creationix/nvm https://github.com/creationix/nvm
amccloud 11y ago
Node jumped from v0.x to v4.x when iojs merged back into node (something like a month ago)
- bdcravens 11y ago
  Do note that even before that, node was on 0.12, and 0.10.25 is from April 2014.
coldtea 11y ago
>Having just started learning about and using node, I read this release note and then this made me say to myself, "What the fuck?" If you've started learning node, then it probably makes sense to follow the community portals and news too. In which case you'd known about io.js and the 4.x thing. In other words, get into the whole project / community / culture.

netcraft 11y ago

This is great news. A year ago we didn't know if Node would ever hit a 1.0 and now we have an LTS release. Congrats and thanks to everyone involved.

bru_ 11y ago

"We are proud to announce the release of Node.js v4.2.0 "Ganja", the first release covered under the new Long Term Support plan!"

octref 11y ago

Questions: 1. On your dev machine, if you are using 4.x, should you keep updating to the newest 4.x version or stay with this version? 2. If you keep updating and use a version manager like nvm, is there an easy way to install global packages(like gulp, grunt, etc) for new versions?

falcolas 11y ago
Depends on what you're running in production. As an admin, I'd say stick with the LTS releases. If you're not in production, or you can bundle your Node with your app (like in a container) then I'd vote for "go wild".
shriek 11y ago
For #2:- nvm copy-packages v(the version that you want to copy from) should do it.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

geuis 11y ago

This is good to hear. Gonna play hell with seo for my open source projects: https://github.com/geuis/argon https://github.com/geuis/argon https://github.com/geuis/helium-css https://github.com/geuis/helium-css

dchest 11y ago
Argon is also a password hash function: https://www.cryptolux.org/index.php/Argon https://www.cryptolux.org/index.php/Argon

cpeterso 11y ago

'J' is the first letter without an element name. Maybe a new element will be discovered and given a 'J' name before 2024. :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_elements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_elements

myhf 11y ago
Jargoon?

rmgraham 11y ago

There are a couple regressions in v4.2.0, but v4.2.1 should be out right away with fixes.