Re: Submitting Dslide to Non-GNU ELPA

[Psionic K]

> My main concern is then to have some explanation for people not familiar
> with either package (like me) to briefly summarise the main differences
> between your package and org-tree-slide, making it easier to decide
> which of the two one wants to use.

In two sentences:  Dslide eclipses org-tree-slide, adding multiple
forms of incremental & composing display, integration with arbitrary
buffers, extensible actions, and emphasis on programmability via org
babel integration.  Only use org-tree-slide if you need its maturity
or are a non-graphical Emacs user.

The initial premise of both packages is to create reasonable
presentations directly from org files, skipping the export step and
achieving a good bang-for-buck solution for any regularly held
meetings, such as stand-ups and quick internal meetings where spending
time on something fancy communicates the wrong priorities.  However,
the following points will make it clear that the capabilities and
design of dslide go far beyond the initial premise, resulting in a
tool that is additionally useful for tech demos, authoring videos, or
giving more polished talks in front of large audiences.

- At times, one may want to use sub-headings for organizing
information on the screen.  Org tree slide offers few options to
control the inclusion of sub-headings, and they affect the entire
presentation.  Dslide is instead configured per-heading.
- Dslide uses line-height rather than line animation, enabling
smoother transitions and easing
- Dslide can present information incrementally, following the order in
which a talk is conducted
- Dslide hides the org markup used in its configuration and can also
hide babel blocks and comments, reusing normal org mode configuration
conventions
- Dslide uses an indirect buffer to avoid polluting the org mode
buffer with various presentation configurations and leftover state
- Dslide has the capability to simultaneously "follow" the slides in
the base buffer, updating the point and scroll position in another
frame, enabling the presenter to read their hidden comments and see
which actions are next while the audience sees the clean presentation.
- Dslide does not rely on the point to control navigation, making it
more reliable for live note taking when conducting an interactive
meeting
- Dslide's keymap is designed to be appropriate for a hardware cueing
device or use of no more than arrow keys, preferably only 3 buttons.
- Dslide's contents view is extremely clear and overloads the
presentation keymap commands, respecting the 3-button interface limit
- Dslide has several built-in "actions" that can consume org mode
information, such as image links.  The image action can display image
buffers full-frame as slides.  These actions also handle nuisance work
such as turning on inline images.
- Org babel blocks can be integrated as steps via an action, enabling
scripting of entirely custom behaviors in the middle of a
presentation.
- Custom actions can be created and even declared in the
presentation's own babel blocks for use in later slides.

It is the babel integration that makes dslide uniquely well-suited
among software typically used by engineers to conduct presentations
that are fully integrated with their normal programming tools,
enabling tech demos to be orchestrated within a reasonable
presentation.

At this time, dslide does everything that org-tree-slide does except
filtering headings.  Even when only using the basic features, Dslide's
breadcrumbs are more reliable and its contents view is superior.  What
remains is maturity.  Org tree slide works better on non-graphical
displays, but in time, especially if non-graphical terminal users
speak up, these issues will be polished off.  Except for maturity,
there is no use case where org-tree-slide remains favorable.  Dslide
is vastly more capable while also doing everything org tree slide does
better.