Use NPM to build JavaScript dependencies

[johnfactotum]

Currently all JavaScript dependencies are pre-built and bundled. It'd be better if there's an option to use NPM to build everything from source.

[archisman-panigrahi]

After that will it be possible to turn the source into a .deb package with a single command, which is possible right now?

[johnfactotum]

It'd be better if there's an option to use NPM to build everything from source.

We can still bundle pre-built files, and the package maintainers can choose to build them themselves if they want.

[digitalethics]

Will this remove all blockers to enable distribution maintainers to make reproducible builds for Foliate?

[johnfactotum]

It depends on what you mean by "reproducible". AFAIK the building process is -- and has always been -- already entirely deterministic and reproducible, though I haven't really tested it.

However, since the JavaScript libraries are themselves generated from another source, some people consider them to be akin to pre-compiled binaries. This is especially the case with minified files, and literally the case with WebAssembly. In that sense, then, yes, this will make Foliate more "reproducible".