Why do I have to install apache2-utils when installing node.js?

Question

I'm about to install node.js (Question about installing). It says that I have to install some packages first for using git and stuff if I'm running a clean server, which I actaully do:

sudo apt-get install g++ curl libssl-dev apache2-utils git-core

Okay - everything's good so far. But why should I install some apache stuff, when I only want to use node.js?

Do I really need that?

---

This question is only relevant for people, who want to compile node themselves. I recommend using the simpler and safer apt-get method.

Answer 1

The name apache2-utils is misleading. It is not a part of the Apache server. Apache just depends on stuff that you can find in this package. As it turns out, the compiler (or node itself) depends on the same utilities.

This means, that after the compilation and installation of node apache2-utils can be safely removed via sudo apt-get remove apache-2utils. This applies to the other packages aswell. However I don't recommend removing any of the packages. You will likely want to recompile node as soon as there's a new version.

tl;dr You're doing nothing wrong, when installing apache2-utils. It is a package of utilities, needed for compiling node. You can remove it after compilation.