Some time ago, I spoke at an open source software event; I made a nice presentation with my OpenOffice Impress and was ready to go. On event day, however, I opened the presentation on the organizer's computer with PowerPoint (OpenOffice was not available), and the file looked completely garbled. I somehow managed to cobble up the presentation and finish the event.

I think you already know what was wrong here; I naively assumed that compatibility with .ppt format meant the files would open properly, across tools. Isn't that how it should be? Several other problems exist with the way presentations are made and presented today. For example, editing or reformatting takes a lot of time, and mainstream presentation tools are basically desktop tools with similar-looking GUIs – you have no option but to use them to open presentations. In spite of so many issues, few steps have been taken to resolve them – at least by the mainstream presentation tools.

In this article, I will introduce you to a tool that aims to bring a revolution in the way people use presentations. The tool is called Strut (Figure 1) [1]. It is an open source, server-client-model-based tool that you can use to create awesome presentations. Deploy it on a server, access it from a browser, and create presentations. It lets you do quick editing of presentations, presents no hassles of checking compatibility, and offers a refreshing new experience for your audience. I will first look at various JavaScript libraries integrated with Strut and then move on to installation steps.

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