Packaging mathjax and other javascript libraries

[Arun Isaac]

A couple of days back, I submitted a patch packaging mathjax. My
conversations with Brendan there raised some more general questions. So,
I'm posting here for wider visibility.

https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=27049

The patch I submitted simply extracts the mathjax tarball into
/share/webapps/mathjax. Arch/Parabola use this kind of "webapps"
path. But, Debian puts it in /share/javascript/mathjax. So far, we have
not adopted any convention for Guix. What path convention should we
adopt? Is it necessary to distinguish between webapps and non-webapps,
like Arch/Parabola do, or is it better to just put it in a javascript
folder like Debian does? Are there other alternative approaches?

Should we have any prefix in the package name for javascript libraries
such as mathjax? Apparently, Debian uses the "libjs-" prefix. Also, it
might be a good idea to have a separate file
(gnu/packages/javascript.scm) for these javascript libraries.

Brendan also pointed out that mathjax is not just code served to web
browsers, but also used in programs like Calibre.

There are so many javascript libraries out there -- mathjax, d3.js,
jquery, etc, etc. Packaging them would be extremely useful for
self-hosting. But, we need to agree on good practices, so that we don't
run into trouble later.

Do share your thoughts.