npm broken under windows (v2.2.1 and v2.2.2 nightly)

[lucidogen]

Is it just me or is iojs broken on Windows ?

When I install a global module, it gets installed in HOME/AppData/Roaming/npm/node_modules but this path is not searched in Module.require (see below).

Shouldn't global modules be installed in Program Files/lib/node ?

    $ which npm
    /c/Program Files/iojs/npm

    $ which node
    /c/Program Files/iojs/node

    $ npm install -g is-property
    is-property@1.0.2 C:\Users\gaspard\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\is-property

    $ node
    > require('module')
    { [Function: Module]
      _contextLoad: false,
      _cache: {},
      _pathCache: {},
      _extensions:
       { '.js': [Function],
         '.json': [Function],
         '.node': [Function: dlopen] },
      globalPaths:
       [ 'C:\\Users\\gaspard\\.node_modules',
         'C:\\Users\\gaspard\\.node_libraries',
         'c:\\Program Files\\lib\\node' ],

[v12]

This is absolutely normal behavior. AFAIR, global modules have always been installed into %AppData%\npm on WIndows and never been accessible from scripts.

[lucidogen]

What is the point of installing global modules if they are not accessible with "require" ? This behavior is different from the what npm does on Mac OS X, why have different behavior on different platforms ?

[v12]

The point is to be able to install, for instance, system-wide command-line applications like PM2 or Bower.

And I'm afraid to disappoint you but such behavior is identical on all platforms. Global modules are not accessible in scripts neither on Windows nor on Mac OS.

[Trott]

I'm seeing this same behavior on OS X. I am seeing it on Node v0.10.36 as well as io.js, so I don't think it's a bug.

But that last path under globalPaths sure is curious and one could be forgiven for thinking something is amiss. In that regard, I'm seeing the same thing as @lucidogen and that path does not exist. But even more curious, if I change the last component of that path from node to node_modules, that path does exist and it is where my global modules are installed.

I haven't bothered (yet, at least) looking in to how and why that last path gets set, but one can certainly be forgiven for thinking it's a probable bug.

[lucidogen]

Sorry for the noise and my misunderstanding. It is good to know that global modules are not seen by scripts as this global installation "feature" of other packaging systems is a nightmare. Happy to see that this behaviour is consistent across platforms. I am closing this now. @Trott if this path thing is a bug, please open another issue.

[Trott]

Looking at the code, I do think this is actually a bug. I'll open a separate ticket.

[Trott]

Opened #1946