doc: remove obsolete Boxstarter automated install #61785
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Fixes: #61690
Current situation
The BUILDING > Option 3: Automated install with Boxstarter document section includes instructions with an associated script to automatically install dependencies on Windows required to build Node.js.
These instructions are non-working: the script fails to install the necessary Visual Studio workload and optional components. Instead it reports an "Unhandled Exception".
Background
The last release of chocolatey/boxstarter was 3.0.3 in Oct 6, 2023. It is bundled with
choco@1.1.0, not the current chocolatey@2.6.0.Boxstarter is only compatible with the legacy Windows PowerShell 5, not with PowerShell 7 (see issue chocolatey/boxstarter#353 from Oct 2018).
Given the outdated nature of the Boxstarter release, it seems unlikely that there will be a new release that solves the above issues.
Node.js history
The Boxstarter automated install script was introduced to Node.js in Nov 2017.
Later, in Sep 2024, a set of WinGet configuration scripts was added that offered an alternative to the Boxstarter script.
Change
Remove:
the BUILDING > Option 3: Automated install with Boxstarter documentation section
the directory tools/bootstrap containing the tools/bootstrap/windows_boxstarter script
GitHub Actions workflow references to tools/bootstrap
Alternatives
Dependencies for Windows builds can be installed by following the remaining instructions in the BUILDING > Windows prerequisites section: