More importantly though, if you are that distrustful of Chrome, you probably should not be using Node because it is based on v8, the Chrome Javascript runtime.
More importantly though, if you are that distrustful of Chrome, you probably should not be using Node because it is based on v8, the Chrome Javascript runtime.
1) ability to debug locally, without an Internet connection.
2) ability to debug reliably, without fear of debugger features becoming 'updated' when one needs it most.
The fact that no independent debugger, without the Leviathan that is Chrome, exists, only hides this aspect even more, hardly doing justice to the importance of debugging in the practice of software.
Regards to the Firefox and Safari debuggers, they do not seem to be viable in practice with the alternative Javascript runtimes mentioned, both very popular and widely used, which is the reason that I claim Chrome DevTools to be the de facto 'Javascript debugger'. Neither do the two tools offer a debugger independent of the browser, as far as I am aware.
Still, unwilling tight coupling with an IDE is still quite unsatisfactory.
Here's an overview of some of the tools in case that's useful: https://sequoia.makes.software/debugging-nodejs-talk/#55
Your link lists the Chrome debugger, IDE debuggers, and the node inspector.
The node inspector is essentially deprecated. IDE debuggers more or less piggyback on the Chrome DevTools protocol, and although I mentioned I have not given them a fair try, but they definitely seem less official, featureful, and well-supported compared to the Chrome debugger. The fact is, this aspect of Javascript seems to have, unceremoniously, already fallen into Google's sole leadership, direction, and discretion, by force or by will.
The Chrome debugger, as mentioned, exists and is probably the most well supported of all debuggers, and is what I use in practice. However, as I mentioned, even 'the best', which is Chrome, does not work very well, exhibits usability regressions per the cadence of Google (e.g. blackboxing used to work, but is very broken today), and moreover compromises basic functionality and freedoms, which comprises my dissatisfaction.
In a better world, we would have something that is native to the language (not a browser), versionable, free, featureful (e.g. profiling and memory debugging), and accessible from the shell (e.g. other languages have gdb, pdb). It would be a good thing for a protocol to actually have multiple implementations.
Something that may at least recover basic functionality from the Chrome DevTools would be to degoogle it for hermetic usage, and separate it from the browser proper. As I mentioned, I am looking forward to make that happen.