Revisit the use of removeNPMAbsolutePaths

[RA80533]

It appears that npm ci creates a huge diff. None of the package.json files in node_modules have a final newline. Is this something that should be done separate from this PR?

Originally posted by @RA80533 in #487 (comment)

• The current package-lock.json file was generated as a v2 lock file by npm 7.x. Major releases of npm prior to 7.x inserted an extra property in package.json files residing in the node_modules folder for which removeNPMAbsolutePaths was used. In other words, removeNPMAbsolutePaths no longer has anything to clean up. EDIT: This might not be true for the CI. This specific detail needs to be investigated.
• removeNPMAbsolutePaths has the unfortunate side effect of stripping the final newline from any file it touches. npm attempts to insert a final newline if it finds that it's missing. The two work against each other to a disastrous effect. VS Code's version control integration has to be reloaded if either of them tries to undo the other because of the enormous amount of changes they make.

[aeisenberg]

This is something to explore. Even though I see minimal benefit for existing developers, I do see how this could help facilitate new contributors.