We are mostly using >v4 but 0.12.x probably works ok too. You can install via https://github.com/nodesource/distributions:
# Using Ubuntu
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_4.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
# Using Debian, as root
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_4.x | bash -
apt-get install -y nodejs
# Using Arch Linux, as root
pacman -S nodejs
$ sudo npm install -g bower
$ ln -s /usr/bin/nodejs /usr/bin/node
bower install
npm install