Build RethinkDB on Debian Wheezy

build_rethinkdb_wheezy.sh

# <http://www.rethinkdb.com/docs/build/>

sudo apt-get install g++ protobuf-compiler protobuf-c-compiler libprotobuf-dev \
 libprotobuf-c0-dev libboost-dev libssl-dev libv8-dev libboost-program-options-dev \
 libgoogle-perftools-dev jsdoc-toolkit libprotoc-dev curl exuberant-ctags m4   \
 rubygems
# *carefully note all packages installed!!*
mkdir ~/tmp && cd ~/tmp
wget http://nodejs.org/dist/v0.8.15/node-v0.8.15.tar.gz
tar xvfz node-v0.8.15.tar.gz
cd node-v0.8.15
./configure
make
sudo make install
# verify npm is installed / works
npm -v
sudo npm install -g less coffee-script
sudo gem install ruby_protobuf
cd ~/tmp
git clone --depth 1 -b next https://github.com/rethinkdb/rethinkdb.git
cd rethinkdb/src
make DEBUG=0
# verify rethinkdb works
./../build/release/rethinkdb
# remove unnecessary dependencies
sudo apt-get remove <everything previously installed but libv8-3.8.9.20>

You could also remove npm, I guess...

In fact, Ubuntu install works on Debian 6+
http://www.rethinkdb.com/docs/install/