package nodejs using fpm (for debian) i'm lazy, you should be too, so here's a bash script.

makeitmakeitnow.sh

#!/bin/bash
set -e

VERSION=0.10.12

BUILD_DIR=`mktemp -d`
trap "rm -rf -- $BUILD_DIR" EXIT

export DESTDIR=$BUILD_DIR/build
ARCHIVE=node-v$VERSION

wget http://nodejs.org/dist/v$VERSION/$ARCHIVE.tar.gz -O $BUILD_DIR/$ARCHIVE.tar.gz
tar -C $BUILD_DIR -zxf $BUILD_DIR/$ARCHIVE.tar.gz
cd $BUILD_DIR/$ARCHIVE
./configure --prefix /usr
make install
cd -
ln -s node $DESTDIR/usr/bin/nodejs
fpm -s dir -t deb -n nodejs -v $VERSION -C $DESTDIR --deb-user root --deb-group root \
  --replaces npm --provides npm -m 'Chris Boulton <[email protected]>' \
  --iteration 1 --description "nodejs v$VERSION, includes bundled npm" \
  --url http://nodejs.org --vendor 'Joyent, Inc' usr/bin usr/lib usr/share
exit