doc: remove obsolete Boxstarter automated install

[MikeMcC399]

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 [email protected], not the current [email protected].

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Given the outdated nature of the Boxstarter release, it seems unlikely that there will be a new release that solves the above issues.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:

• Option 1: Manual install or
• Option 2: Automated install with WinGet

[nodejs-github-bot]

Review requested:

• @nodejs/actions
• @nodejs/build
• @nodejs/tsc