statically linked executable

Node.js has support to be compiled as a fully statically linked executable just by using the --fully-static configure flag. That way it doesn't require external dynamic libraries (.so, .dll, .dylib...) and it's main purpose is for embedded platforms. Though, it's somewhat experimental and has some issues you need to know before using it:

• it's dependent of the C lib used: the standard glibc (found on Ubuntu, for example) cannot be used to build fully statically linked executables, as some components are designed such that they require loading dynamic libs for some functionality. This doesn't happen with other alternative C libs like musl, uclib or DietLib, for example.
• doesn't work with MacOS X developer tools: vanilla gcc compiler on MacOS X don't recognize the -static flag since it's intended to use only dynamic linking. It could work with other compilers (installed with homebrew or macports, for example), but this has not been tested.
• there can be compilation issues: not directly related with static compilation, but for example OpenSSL doesn't compile correctly using the musl C lib. Solutions are to use the --no-ssl configure flag to disable it, or patch OpenSSL. If you find any of this, please open an issue.
• it could not load compiled modules: some C libs like musl (and seems glibc too) use a stripped-down version of the dlopen() function when included in statically linked executables, so loading of some Node.js compiled modules could fail. Requiring pure Javascript modules will work as expected, though.