OpenSSL missing during ./configure. How to fix?

Yes, it's a mandatory step. You cannot remove OpenSSL from a program uses it, the same way you couldn't remove random engine parts from a car.

The OpenSSL library is usually already installed, but you have to install the header files. Depending on your Linux distribution, you'll need these packages:

• Red Hat, Fedora, CentOS - openssl-devel
• Debian, Ubuntu - libssl-dev
• Arch - openssl

---

_{Technically one could replace OpenSSL with, say, NSS, but that's not the point here.}

debian:

apt-get install libssl-dev

apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)

No, it isn't.

You can still compile nodejs with ./configure --without-ssl