Finally I understand the frustrations that is packages and dependencies in npm...

I have never really used node.js, only on windows to help develop a chrome plugin, but trying to do the same thing on Linux, omfg, how is it this bad?

On Windows I just ran the alias "npm start" and is figured out that it needed to install a bunch of stuff, did it and continued compiling.
On Linux I just got one missing dependencie after another... How is it that different?

This is why I don't like node

!rant
If you want to install the dependencies of an npm based application, use `npm install`.
`npm start` does not install dependencies, it just calls an entry point to your application, defined in the package.json.

If someone modified your project to install missing dependencies by using `npm start`, this is not standard, and depending on how this extra feature was implemented might not work on linux (e. g. if the install command is some how called in windows commandline and not bash).

!!rant
And seriously, if you don't know anything about npm/node, if you don't know the difference between npm start and npm install. RTFM!

@nobol I tried following a node for beginners maybe it was the wrong one and RTFM did not help at all. Dependencies were a nightmare.

I understand node is good and modular but if you are learning from the ground up it's not easy

I've never understood the problems people have with this. Dealing with npm dependencies is mostly two cases, and both are straightforward:

1. You want to use some package in your own code.
'npm install <package> --save'
Npm installs the package and all its dependencies to your project.
If it's some package you only need for development, use --save-dev instead of --save.

2. It's an existing project which you've cloned locally.
'npm install'
Npm installs all dependencies.

'npm start' shouldn't be installing anything...

Maybe Windows installs a bunch of packages globally, so the are missing in the package.json file? Seems more like a bad package.json file than a Windows-Linux issue.

@kvsm I second. Never had trouble with npm dependencies..

Agree with the rest of the comments here. npm start isn't supposed to install anything. Check the start script mentioned in the package.json file, it's probably running something that it's not supposed to.

Yarn

Node works successfully and efficiently for many people, but magically is a horrible piece of software that simply doesn't work.