title: Problems with long recursive node_modules directories on windows (Node.JS / Gulp)
body: <p>I am using node.js and gradle to do stuff.</p>
  
  <p>After installing the needed libraries i end up with a very long recursive directory structure.</p>
  
  <p>Example:</p>
  
  <pre><code>C:\workspace\KCode\node_modules\google-closure-compiler\node_modules\gulp-util\node_modules\dateformat\node_modules\meow\node_modules\read-pkg-up\node_modules\read-pkg\node_modules\load-json-file\node_modules\parse-json\node_modules\error-ex\node_modules\is-arrayish\.editorconfig
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>These long paths cause several problems. Many tools / programs do not support such long paths.</p>
  
  <p>For example the windows file history feature complains about it:</p>
  
  <pre><code>Die Datei wurde nicht gesichert, da ihr vollständiger Pfad das MAX_PATH-Limit übersteigt oder nicht unterstützte Zeichen enthalten sind:
  Wenn die Datei geschützt werden soll, verwenden Sie kürzere Verzeichnis- und Dateinamen.
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>(Sorry, I don't have the english message.)</p>
  
  <p>Question 1: Is there a way to flatten or shorten this directory-structure?</p>
  
  <p>Question 2: Is there a way to declare a system-wide location where to put these things (and share them between different projects)?</p>