Hi,

Are Distant Light and Light Lop with Distant type the same?
I can't see any difference between them.

The authored data is almost identical. The Distant Light LOP sets normalizeto trueby default, while the Light LOP sets it to false.

What is the thinking to use different node types rather than two presets like the Bend and Twist?

Presets and callbacks were considered but, ultimately, breaking the distant light into its own node felt like the best option in terms of providing a robust and maintainable solution.