Re: [Patch] org-display-inline-images: Add support for remote images

[Rasmus <rasmus@gmx.us>]

Kit-Yan Choi <kit@kychoi.org> writes:

>> Thanks for your patch. However, I wonder if we really want this. Remote
>> images could be slow to fetch, and it would make buffer unusable.
>
> I personally needed this functionality.  I have tried to reduce the amount
> of time spent on fetching the images by checking whether the images have
> been fetched before and whether the remote files are newer.  Yes these
> communications take time as it should be expected if one opens an org file
> remotely (therefore connection should have been made) or when one specifies
> a remote image as path and wants to display it inline.
> Perhaps I could add an option flag or ask a question before fetching for
> user to decide whether to display remote images or not?  In case the
> behaviour of displaying remote images inline is not desired?  One scenario
> I can think of is that `org-startup-with-inline-images' is set to true and
> the file is sometimes visited remotely.
> Any opinion or comment on this, please?

I recently worked with remote pictures for html-slides.  The slides were
stored on my github powered website, and the pictures were hosted on my
owncloud.  So I definitely see the merits of Kit-Yan's proposal.

Also, remote files will work in HTML, but not in latex or odt (I think),
so local caching could maybe also be applied, optionally, when exporting
documents.

org-startup-with-inline-images should have an equivalent
file-variable that takes priority, and probably
org-startup-with-inline-images should default to nil.

The above is of course "IMO".

—Rasmus

-- 
Got mashed potatoes. Ain't got no T-Bone. No T-Bone