I now understand the major differences between source release and binary release of a software. A good question here.
I needed to install Node.js on a Linux machine, and chose binary release because it requires no compilation/installation. I downloaded the tar, unzipped the file, and it's ready-to-go.
My question is, when both choices are available, for what reasons would a person choose source over binary?
The only thing I can think of is that the person wishes to read/study the source code.