Barney's recent activity
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Comment on Humble Choice - June 2026 in ~games
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Comment on My Accessibility Stack and the future on Wayland in ~comp
Barney Link ParentHave you read the post I linked? Gnome devs are constantly abused everywhere on the internet, at times simply for being a Gnome dev other times for their UI design philosophy. Read from section...Have you read the post I linked?
Gnome devs are constantly abused everywhere on the internet, at times simply for being a Gnome dev other times for their UI design philosophy.
Read from section 3.3 in particular.
I fully expect everything I say in this article to be dismissed or be taken out of context on the basis of ad hominem, simply by the mere fact I’m a GNOME Foundation member / regular GNOME contributor. [...]
I can’t speak for other regular contributors, but I presume that they don’t feel comfortable talking about this because they dared be a GNOME contributor. At least, that’s how I felt for the longest time.It’s so unfair and infuriating that all the work I do and share online gain very little activity compared to random posts and articles from privileged people without disabilities that rant about the Linux desktop’s accessibility being trash. It doesn’t help that I become severely anxious sharing accessibility-related work to avoid signs of virtue signalling.
We simultaneously need more interest from people with disabilities to contribute to free and open-source software, and the wider community to be significantly more intolerant of bullies who profit from smearing and demotivating people who are actively trying.
We should take inspiration from “Accessibility on Linux sucks, but GNOME and KDE are making progress” by OSNews. They acknowledge that accessibility on Linux is suboptimal while recognizing the efforts of GNOME and KDE. As a community, we should promote progress more often.
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Comment on Clanker: A word for the machine in ~tech
Barney Link ParentThat's a shockingly good parallel. An LLM "expressing", for the lack of a better word, remorse or any sort of regret, guilt etc. when it makes a mistake is complete fluke. When it encourages or...That's a shockingly good parallel. An LLM "expressing", for the lack of a better word, remorse or any sort of regret, guilt etc. when it makes a mistake is complete fluke. When it encourages or praises you, there is nothing real behind it.
Almost exactly like the demons in Frieren imitating human behaviour and appealing to their emotions.
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Comment on My Accessibility Stack and the future on Wayland in ~comp
Barney Link ParentI think you misunderstand their point. I won't claim to know what that particular developer meant by their comments, but the accessibility topic is very much a double edged blade. See this post by...I think you misunderstand their point. I won't claim to know what that particular developer meant by their comments, but the accessibility topic is very much a double edged blade. See this post by EvilSkeleton, one of the Gnome devs putting in most of the accessibility work.
And the above comment by BuckyMcMonks really resonates with their frustration. There's no we in accessibility development. We are not putting in any of the work. We are only using what's given to us, and then complain that it's not complete.
Accessibility is a very important topic, and if you follow the development channels, there is actual work being done across the board. The thing is, there is a lot of work to do and not enough people to do it. Being more demanding or assuming bad faith is not the right way to go about this.
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Comment on What are your personal crackpot conspiracy theories about the world right now? in ~talk
Barney Link ParentNot to mention how incredibly uncommon this is here. Certainly possible that it's a coincidence, but definitely makes one think.Not to mention how incredibly uncommon this is here. Certainly possible that it's a coincidence, but definitely makes one think.
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Comment on "The reason I'm not an atheist is that I think the philosophical arguments against it are unanswerable" (gifted link) in ~humanities
Barney Link ParentWhich becomes even more apparent when put this way. A monotheistic religious person already rejects and doesn't believe in thousands of gods, for no particularly convincing reason, yet they rarely...Which becomes even more apparent when put this way.
A monotheistic religious person already rejects and doesn't believe in thousands of gods, for no particularly convincing reason, yet they rarely entertain the thought why those gods and that faith can be dismissed as false so easily.
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Comment on New Steam Controller reportedly $99 in ~games
Barney (edited )Link ParentFrom the video: So just having steam running in the background isn't enough.From the video:
If you want to play non-steam games with gamepad controls, you'll need to launch them through steam.
So just having steam running in the background isn't enough.
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Comment on New Steam Controller reportedly $99 in ~games
Barney Link ParentThis is the exact Steam / Valve apologism I was talking about. Yes, the developer could change it, but why is Steam getting waved through for encouraging these outrageous prices in the first...This is the exact Steam / Valve apologism I was talking about. Yes, the developer could change it, but why is Steam getting waved through for encouraging these outrageous prices in the first place? Why do you think that they are not responsible for it?
How about indie games? How is an indie developer supposed to know which regional prices are fair and rich aren't? And why would they lower a price for a region, if Steam recommend a higher one?
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Comment on New Steam Controller reportedly $99 in ~games
Barney Link ParentThat sort of supports my point, I think. The things you listed are the bare minimum service expected from an online store. They're doing nothing praise-worthy. As for fairly priced games, I have...That sort of supports my point, I think. The things you listed are the bare minimum service expected from an online store. They're doing nothing praise-worthy.
As for fairly priced games, I have to completely disagree. Let's take a popular AAA game as an example that's available on GOG too, Baldur's Gate 3.
On Steam, the game costs 59.99 USD, which is with current exchange rates 48 CHF. On Steam, Baldur's Gate 3 costs 69.99 CHF, which is 89 USD. Excuse me, what?????
The same game on GOG costs 58 CHF, 17% cheaper, and I actually own the game. This is the exact same for the overwhelming majority of games. Steam is actively scamming Switzerland (the most), among other countries. I know developers can change their regional prices, but pretty much nobody does. 60 USD games are almost always 70 CHF.
I generally support regional pricing for poorer countries, but the opposite is ridiculous. They also do 1 USD = 1 EUR in their pricing, even though the exchange rate is 0.85. Poland sometimes gets prices close to Switzerland, with a significantly lower median income.
Steam's pricing is in no way fair and are absolutely gouging the consumer for all they're worth.
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Comment on New Steam Controller reportedly $99 in ~games
Barney Link ParentThis is only tangentially related to the controller, but This is something I personally have never understood. From my personal experience, Steam is just as bad and predatory as every other...This is only tangentially related to the controller, but
people love steam so much they will never bat an eye at being forced to use it.
This is something I personally have never understood. From my personal experience, Steam is just as bad and predatory as every other company out there, yet they seem to get a free pass by the community for some reason?
They take a whopping 30% cut from sales, you still don't own the games you purchase on steam (unlike GoG, for example) and their desktop app is a slow, overall dreadful a resource hog. Their regional pricing is completely unfair and exploitatory and the list goes on.
It really annoys me when people (not meaning you) talk about steam like they're some benevolent, charitable entity. And the positive reception and complete disregard for this controller's shortcomings is an excellent example of that. If Epic Games or EA released this controller, the reception would 100% be different.
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Comment on New Steam Controller reportedly $99 in ~games
Barney Link ParentIt needs steam to be running, which is quite annoying.With anything running Steam
Steam Controller works with any PC or device running Steam or the Steam Link app. This includes Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs, as well as tablets and smart phones.
It needs steam to be running, which is quite annoying.
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Comment on New Steam Controller reportedly $99 in ~games
Barney Link ParentIt will act like the layout of the thing you pair it to. So there will be a button / sign mismatch on PC, since the version that supports both PC and Switch comes with a Switch layout. I totally...It will act like the layout of the thing you pair it to. So there will be a button / sign mismatch on PC, since the version that supports both PC and Switch comes with a Switch layout.
I totally get where you're coming from though, I found AB stuff difficult to get used to as well.
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Comment on Fits on a floppy - a manifesto for small software in ~tech
Barney Link ParentThanks! For iOS it's a bit easier since there's at least a framework you can rely on. For linux, pretty much nothing is guaranteed to be on the system and there's no real OS-wide standard, so I...Thanks! For iOS it's a bit easier since there's at least a framework you can rely on. For linux, pretty much nothing is guaranteed to be on the system and there's no real OS-wide standard, so I was wondering where the line is drawn.
Really cool idea! Cheers!
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Comment on New Steam Controller reportedly $99 in ~games
Barney (edited )Link ParentYou're comparing the old 8bitdo controller with the new Steam controller. 8bitdo released a 2nd version of their wireless one last year called 8bitdo Ultimate 2, which has all of the things you...You're comparing the old 8bitdo controller with the new Steam controller. 8bitdo released a 2nd version of their wireless one last year called 8bitdo Ultimate 2, which has all of the things you listed, and it's the exact same price as the old one. Currently 43 CHF (55 USD) in Switzerland.
- Gyro on pc
- TMR sticks
- Better dpad
- Extra bumper buttons
- 1000 hz polling rate
and it can be remapped very easily.
Pretty much the only thing the steam controller has going for it is having trackpads (and potentially the layout, if you prefer that over the asymmetric sticks).
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Comment on Fits on a floppy - a manifesto for small software in ~tech
Barney LinkI like this a lot! I've long been a proponent of small software. There are 0 reasons for apps to be multiple hundred megabytes! However, this particular line got me thinking: What do we call...I like this a lot! I've long been a proponent of small software. There are 0 reasons for apps to be multiple hundred megabytes!
However, this particular line got me thinking:
Native only. No dependency bloat [...]
What do we call native? What libraries on the system can you rely on? For GUI stuff, I suppose on iOS you can expect the UI libraries to be available everywhere, so I suppose those don't count?
What if I'm targeting the Gnome distribution on Linux, which comes with the Gnome UI framework (GTK/Adwaita), can I omit those in my size calculation, since they're not part of my binary, they're on the system already?
What if I'm using SQLite in my app? The library is available on virtually every system, but its
.sofile is larger than a floppy already.I would like some clarification :P I would love to add the Fits on a floppy label to my apps, but want to be sure that I'm using it correctly.
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Comment on New Steam Controller reportedly $99 in ~games
Barney Link ParentI was about to mention the 8bitdo Ultimate. It's an excellent controller that you can pair with your phone, PC, steam deck, xbox, Switch etc. It's the best controller I've ever used, and even...I was about to mention the 8bitdo Ultimate. It's an excellent controller that you can pair with your phone, PC, steam deck, xbox, Switch etc.
It's the best controller I've ever used, and even assuming the steam controller will be 100 EUR in Europe, which may not be the case, it's a very very tough sell.
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Comment on China calls for ‘concerted’ efforts to tackle excess solar production in ~enviro
Barney Link ParentThat's exactly what's happening, and it's a spiraling out of control. Solar production was very heavily subsidised, was exempt from VAT for a while, and they spent a significant amount of money...That's exactly what's happening, and it's a spiraling out of control. Solar production was very heavily subsidised, was exempt from VAT for a while, and they spent a significant amount of money raising production capacities. They expected an explosion in demand, so many factories were already running at a deficit, hoping to turn a profit when the market equalises. The projected demand didn't materialise and now they have a bunch of factories that are willing to sell at a loss just to sell anything, which keeps prices very low due to competition, meaning pretty much everybody loses.
You're right that it is naturally self limiting, but China is huge, and simply letting the market self limit is a massive economic disaster affecting millions of people.
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Comment on Almost half of EU’s busiest flight routes are ‘hard or impossible’ to book on trains in ~transport
Barney Link ParentThis is the wrong way to look at it. The entire notion that we should make something significantly more expensive to promote something else is very misguided. We should not aim to make the average...This is the wrong way to look at it. The entire notion that we should make something significantly more expensive to promote something else is very misguided. We should not aim to make the average person's life even more miserable.
Economically, there are 0 reasons why trains should be as expensive as they are, other than privatised railroads having monopoly. That is where the issue lies. I can take a car, and drive to London for significantly less money than taking a train. If I take my family of 4, it's an order of magnitude cheaper. That is laughable. The solution is not making quite literally everything else more expensive, but working on making trains cheaper, since in theory, they are the cheapest.
Railroads should be nationalised, like every other form of public transport. It's a service for the people, like the post, so it need not turn a profit. Additionally, not having competition drives prices up. That's capitalism for you.
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Comment on Almost half of EU’s busiest flight routes are ‘hard or impossible’ to book on trains in ~transport
Barney Link ParentDepends on how you define convenience, I suppose. Going from Switzerland to London takes 9-10 hours. Sitting that much is not particularly comfortable, and usually you arrive / depart at abysmal...Depends on how you define convenience, I suppose. Going from Switzerland to London takes 9-10 hours. Sitting that much is not particularly comfortable, and usually you arrive / depart at abysmal times. Not sure how convenient arriving at St. Pancras at 2 am is.
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Comment on Almost half of EU’s busiest flight routes are ‘hard or impossible’ to book on trains in ~transport
Barney LinkWhile I agree that booking train tickets can be a bit cumbersome, depending on the services your local railroad provides, in my opinion it's prohibitively expensive, first and foremost. (I can...While I agree that booking train tickets can be a bit cumbersome, depending on the services your local railroad provides, in my opinion it's prohibitively expensive, first and foremost. (I can book trains from my local railroad's website easily, so it's a non issue in Switzerland.)
For reference, to go from where I am in Switzerland to London and back, it would cost me between 500 and 800 swiss francs (roughly 640 - 1020 USD) depending on when I go in the next 2 months. For reference, last year around this time, I flew to London from Zurich with Swiss Airlines for 180 CHF, including return.
Flights are already taxed quite heavily, and no amount of taxation will close this gap in price. Nor should it. Making people pay hundreds of percent more to encourage trains is nonsensical. Railways take longer, are less convenient and cost significantly more. Why don't people use them more, I wonder? Truly a mystery!
Cynicism aside, railroads need to do something about the price if they want people to see trains as an alternative to flights. I don't see that happening, since train tickets seem to be getting more expensive with each passing year. Which is a massive shame, since I love trains.
Another month, another massive win for WINE / Proton! Love to see it!
Really cool set of games as well!
I intend to play Octopath Traveler 2 and Hell Clock. Seems like a silly little ARPG. Probably nothing shockingly good, but reasonably interesting!
That leaves me with the following games I have no need for:
Life is Strange: Double ExposureIndikaCitizen Sleeper 2If anyone would like any of these games, please respond here and I'll DM you the redeem link!
Do note that some games may or may not be region locked (I am in Europe). If for some reason you are not able to redeem the game due to region locking, please relinquish it to someone else :)