The bower.json manifest has been broken since #7002 (v1.12.0, Sep 2025): it declares main: ./dist/axios.js, but dist/ is no longer in git, so bower install axios against any recent tag fails to resolve its entry point. Bower itself was deprecated in 2017 (bower/bower#2298). This PR removes the orphaned manifest along with its supporting gulp task and README install instructions, making the removal of bower as a distribution channel explicit rather than silently broken.

Summary by cubic

Remove orphaned Bower support by deleting bower.json, removing the related gulp task, and dropping Bower install docs. This prevents broken bower installs and clarifies that axios is distributed via npm/yarn only.

Description

• Summary of changes
  • Removed bower.json.
  • Dropped the gulp bower task and updated the version series and exports.
  • Renamed a release workflow step to “Run preversion” (still runs npm run preversion).
  • Removed Bower install instructions from README.md.
• Reasoning
  • bower is deprecated, and its manifest has been broken since v1.12.0 when dist/ stopped being tracked.
  • Avoids silently broken installs and reduces maintenance.
• Additional context
  • No impact to users installing via npm or yarn.
  • Packaging and release flows remain unchanged aside from removing Bower steps.

Testing

• No tests were added or changed.
• None needed: this is a docs/config cleanup with no runtime behavior changes.
• Optional smoke check: run npm run preversion to confirm the release step still completes.

^{Written for commit 30d1c7a. Summary will update on new commits.}